Czech manufacturer GAZ Energy is developing battery storage projects in Romania with a total power capacity of 72 MW and an energy capacity of 150 MWh, as part of a broader expansion across several European markets. The company says its current portfolio of BESS projects exceeds 2 GWh, at various stages of development.

Romania is among the markets where GAZ Energy is expanding its activities, alongside Poland, Germany, Ukraine, the Baltic states, Italy, Spain and Croatia. The company is building its expansion on the experience gained in the Czech Republic, where more than 1 GWh of its current project portfolio is concentrated in the domestic market.

For Romania, the press release does not yet provide information on project locations, beneficiaries, implementation schedules or the individual development stage of the investments. GAZ Energy only states that its Romanian projects total 72 MW and 150 MWh, equivalent to slightly more than two hours of storage duration relative to their combined power capacity.

The European portfolio also includes projects totalling 82.5 MW/162 MWh in Finland, 30 MW/60 MWh in Poland and 17.5 MW/50 MWh in Germany. The Czech Republic remains the largest component, however, with GAZ Energy involved in two of the country’s largest battery projects, with a combined power capacity of 487 MW and an energy capacity of 980 MWh.

GAZ Energy says it has delivered and installed 900 MWh of capacity in the Czech Republic this year and intends to use the experience gained there to develop its activities in other European markets.

“This year, we have delivered and installed 900 MWh in the Czech Republic. For us, this represents an important reference and confirmation that we are capable of reliably delivering large-scale projects in their entirety. We are using this experience in other European markets,” says David Vodička, member of the Board of Directors of GAZ Energy.

The company is seeking to differentiate its European offer not only through system capacity, but also through the origin of its technology, control over software and data, and the long-term availability of technical services. Its Li-ion BESS systems are manufactured in the Czech Republic, use European software, and are supported by engineering, integration and technical services provided from Europe, according to the company.

GAZ Energy also links its positioning to increasingly stringent European requirements on cybersecurity and data protection. In this context, the company cites NIS2, the Cyber Resilience Act and the Net-Zero Industry Act, as well as requirements imposed by transmission and distribution system operators.

“For large battery energy storage facilities, customers today do not make decisions based solely on price and the number of megawatt-hours. What matters is who they entrust with their technology, their data and part of their critical energy infrastructure, and who will still be able to support them ten or fifteen years from now,” says Tomáš Lev, Li-Ion BESS Sales Director at GAZ Energy.

GAZ Energy has manufacturing facilities in the Czech Republic and Germany. The company has its roots in the industrial battery sector, where it says it has more than 140 years of experience, and produces both Ni-Cd batteries for critical backup power systems and modern Li-ion BESS systems for large-scale energy storage.