Two Israeli companies have built the largest photovoltaic park in South-Eastern Europe in the commune of Reteşti in the county of Argesh, investing 102 million euros. Although the grand opening of the park comes at a time when renewable energy does not receive any subsidies, investors say it is profitable. “Romania has huge potential and there will be a boom in this sector in the coming years. Anyone with money is now investing in solar energy,” says Favi Stelian, managing partner of Nofar Energy, one of the investors.
The Rătești Photovoltaic Park, built on a 170-hectare site, is visible from the A1 motorway, on the right as you drive towards Pitesti. With a capacity of 115 MW, with 135,000 panels, it is the largest photovoltaic park in Romania, as well as in Southeast Europe. At the moment, because there are projects on the market that will soon break this record.
“There will be a boom in this market in 2024-2025. Whoever has money now invests it in solar energy,” says Stelian.
In fact, this is the second boom in the renewable energy sector after 2010-2012, when investors in green energy received huge subsidies. After the end of subsidies for new projects, investments also stopped.
However, during this period, the Romanian authorities are once again preparing to introduce a support scheme: contracts for difference.
“Our project is profitable even without subsidies because it is very big,” Stelian told reporters who asked him why the support scheme is needed if the work is going well without it.
“But there are also smaller projects, 10-15-20 MW, which cannot be developed without subsidies, and Romania will not be able to reach its renewable energy goal without these small projects,” he added.
Romania will need 11 GW of solar parks in 2030 to meet its renewable energy targets, up from 2.5 GW currently, so there is still a long way to go, says Andrej Manea, president of the Romanian Photovoltaic Energy Association.
“We expect that in 2030, 45,000 people will work in this sector. It is very important to involve and train them. Our message is that we are no longer a new technology, like 10-12 years ago, when the first panels were installed and people wondered: will they catch fire, what to do in winter, what about the grass between them? “, Manya also noted.
Source: Hot News
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