Romania is going and preparing for an allocation of EUR 815 million, or USD 886.47 million, in grants in order to incentivize investments in solar, wind, as well as hydropower production throughout the country.
The Romanian energy ministry said on January 18 that it will launch a couple of funding calls in March 2024, thereby disbursing funds from the EU’s Modernization Fund.
It is well to be noted that the first funding round, equivalent to EUR 415 million, will be directed towards renewable energy projects in which a minimum of 70% of the generated energy happens to be intended for self-consumption. Almost EUR 190 million of the budget will be given to solar power initiatives of more than 1 MW, with a cap of EUR 500,000 per installed MW. Interestingly, solar projects of around 1 MW will be aided with EUR 170 million, with grants that would be capped at EUR 1 million per MW.
Apparently, the wind power projects will go on to receive EUR 30 million, with disbursements that would be limited to EUR 700,000 per MW. An additional EUR 25 million from the funding package will go to hydropower, with the highest payouts capped at EUR 1.805 million per MW.
The competition happens to be open to micro-enterprises, small or medium-sized enterprises, along with large enterprises.
The second call, which would be valued at EUR 400 million, will go on to allocate a total of EUR 200 million, with the highest of the grants capped at EUR 500,000 per MW. In addition to this, both wind and hydropower facilities will have financial support packages of EUR 100 million each, having maximum disbursements set at EUR 700,000 as well as EUR 1.805 million per MW, respectively.
It is worth noting that the guidelines for applicants are now available in the public domain for review, and potential recipients are encouraged to offer feedback so as to enhance the financing guidelines. The goal is to help with the initiation of tenders on March 1 this year. Once the tendering process begins, interested parties can submit their proposals in a span of ninety days.
Interestingly, the selected projects will need to be finalized in three years from the date of inking the financing contracts, however no later than December 31, 2029.