Romania, Lagging in Energy Storage! How Much Would a National Storage System Cost?

Investments in energy storage systems are essential for Romania’s transition to a green and sustainable economy. According to the Prosumers Association (APCE), to ensure the energy storage needed to cover Romania’s electricity consumption for four hours, investments of approximately 4 billion euros would be required. This amount is equivalent to the subsidies paid by the Romanian state to energy suppliers to offset high energy prices.

Currently, Romania has only 24 MWh of storage capacity (equivalent to 6 MW for 4 hours), a capacity deemed insufficient by APCE, which highlights the need to significantly increase this capacity.

“Recently, Romania experienced an unprecedented energy crisis due to the heat wave, which generated high energy consumption for air conditioning and ventilation. The National Energy System managed to cope with the energy production crisis through ad-hoc measures. The lack of storage capacity, as indicated by all available statistics, shows that Romania has been dependent on large and extremely expensive energy imports. If the 150,000 prosumers had not existed, they too would have consumed from the grid without injecting their surplus into the local low-voltage networks, and Romania would have faced an energy collapse,” the Association points out.

“Ironically, this comes after parliamentarians recently voted, urgently, that they no longer need the energy from prosumers. Fortunately, due to the insistence of two associations, APCE and PATRES, following submitted petitions, the President of Romania took note and returned the law to Parliament for further examination,” APCE reminds.

“National Energy System level storage was the solution. We can emulate the developed countries of Western Europe, but who will do it?” the Association adds, giving some examples: In 2023, Germany added approximately 6.1 GWh of new energy storage capacity, making it the largest energy storage market in Europe. The UK and Italy also saw significant increases, adding around 4.0 GWh and 3.9 GWh, respectively.

Looking ahead, the trend is expected to continue. In 2024, Germany, the UK, and Italy are estimated to add approximately 7.1 GWh, 7.7 GWh, and 6.2 GWh, respectively, showing substantial increases in storage capacity.

“These developments are crucial for the continent’s energy transition, helping to balance supply and demand and ensuring stability in the face of increasing renewable energy production. The investment in a storage system for the ENTIRE Romania to operate for four hours on batteries would have cost around 4 billion euros, exactly the money given by the Romanian state to suppliers to compensate for expensive energy,” the Association further notes.