At the SolarPower Summit 2025 in Brussels, one of the most resonant sessions explored the evolving landscape of solar and storage in Central and Eastern Europe. The panel, titled “National deep-dive: Solar and storage stories from Central and Eastern Europe”, brought together key voices from Romania, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Poland. Their insights painted a compelling picture of shared struggles, diverging paths, and converging ambitions — all centered around the urgent need to integrate renewables with storage.
Romania: Strong start, rising ambitions
Andrei Manea, Executive Director of the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association (RPIA), opened the session with an optimistic outlook. “It seems that it’s that moment in time when our part of Europe becomes more and more important in the solar industry,” he said, noting Romania’s impressive growth in installed solar capacity — from 1.3 GW in 2021 to over 5 GW in 2025. This increase is evenly split between prosumers and utility-scale plants.
While storage remains in early stages, Manea cited approximately 270 MWh already installed, with “plans much bigger than that.” EU funding through the Modernization Fund and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) is expected to accelerate developments. “It’s clear that from now on, you cannot think of solar in Romania without also thinking about storage,” he added.
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Permitting in Romania is relatively favorable, with developers reaching “ready-to-build” status in two to three years — a timeline Manea called “excellent” by European standards. He also announced Romania’s intention to launch a Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme tailored to storage, a significant move for investor confidence.
Czech Republic: Cautious recovery, clear strategy
Jan Fousek, Chairman of the Czech Energy Storage Association (AKU-BAT CZ), described a country catching up after years of stagnation. “Since 2009 and 2010, nothing happened — but that’s also our advantage,” he explained. This delay allowed Czech policymakers to “start right,” especially under pressure from the European Commission.
Today, the Czech Republic has about 4.5 GW of installed solar and 2 GWh of battery capacity, largely from residential systems. “We are number three in Europe in terms of household battery installations,” Fousek noted, but acknowledged a lack of large-scale storage — a gap soon to be addressed, as favorable laws for standalone batteries come into effect in October 2025.
Critically, the Czech Republic has already removed double charging for batteries and adopted a supportive regulatory environment for flexibility services. Over 50 aggregators are certified to provide ancillary services, and the TSO is “fully supportive,” Fousek emphasized. “All new batteries are immediately integrated into aggregation blocks.”
Bulgaria: From margins to main stage
Nikola Gazdov, Chairman of APSTE (Association for Production, Storage, and Trading of Electricity), delivered yet another updates: Bulgaria added 4 GW of solar in under five years — a monumental jump from a decade of stagnation.
“What was considered impossible just a few years ago — 70% solar share on some spring days — is now happening,” Gazdov declared. This success, however, brings new challenges: volatility, curtailment, and even negative prices. “We know this is a market signal. Storage is the solution.”
Bulgaria is fast becoming a regional frontrunner in hybrid systems. Permitting has been radically simplified: “It’s probably one of the easier countries in Europe now for hybrid and standalone storage,” Gazdov said. Already, 7 GW of storage projects have secured grid connection agreements, and 1 to 2 GWh are under construction — including one of Europe’s largest battery projects by an energy-intensive industrial user (500 MWh).
Beyond technical and regulatory progress, Gazdov stressed the importance of public acceptance: “We need to win hearts and minds — to show that solar plus storage is not just viable, but vital for European competitiveness.”
Poland: A time for new ambitions
Irena Gajewska, Vice President of the Polish Photovoltaics Association (PSF), described a paradox: over 30 GW of installed capacity (including 21 GW solar), yet the system now faces severe curtailments and negative pricing.
“The duck curve is real,” she said, hinting to serious mismatches between solar production and actual consumption patterns. Batteries are widely acknowledged as the answer — but Poland still lacks a dedicated support scheme. Instead, storage developers have turned to the capacity market, originally designed to keep coal plants online. “Last December, we had 4 GW of battery capacity win 17-year contracts,” Gajewska confirmed, with 1.5 GW already under construction.
Still, regulatory inconsistencies persist, particularly around grid-sharing and colocation rules. “Only one installation in a hybrid setup can benefit from support,” Gajewska noted — a constraint she hopes will be removed in upcoming legal updates.
Like other speakers, she pointed to public funds as a game-changer: 1.2 billion euros is expected from the Modernization Fund, with calls for standalone batteries and hybrid systems launching soon.
Shared challenges and forward motion
One undercurrent uniting the region is the recurrent mismatch between policy ambition and institutional approaches. Across all four countries, speakers highlighted how slow adaptation by regulators or unexpected shifts in political attitudes have introduced avoidable uncertainties. In the Czech Republic, retroactive measures targeting PV investors have undermined trust. In Poland, regulatory ambiguity around hybrid systems and cable pooling has delayed project bankability. Bulgaria faces the specter of disinformation campaigns targeting storage and renewables — part of what Nikola Gazdov called “structured propaganda,” feeding public skepticism. Meanwhile, in Romania, visibility on project pipelines remains low, partly because authorities have not established effective monitoring of implementation phases.
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These frictions — whether political, administrative, or cultural — threaten to slow the pace of an otherwise accelerating transition. They remind us that infrastructure alone is not enough. Trust, transparency, and continuity in governance are equally crucial.
Looking ahead, the trajectories diverge in rhythm but not in direction. Romania is poised for a steady rise, backed by a well-structured permitting system and multiple funding lines already in motion. The Czech Republic, a late mover, now has the advantage of building from a clean slate with robust regulatory support. Bulgaria is on the brink of a major leap, driven by investor appetite and streamlined permitting for hybrid and standalone systems. Poland, despite its advanced market maturity, faces the steepest climb — both regulatory and reputational — but its long-term potential is bolstered by massive state aid package for storage.
Taken together, these stories suggest that Central and Eastern Europe is not only growing — it is growing wiser. If the past few years were marked by trial and error, the next few might be shaped by strategy and scale. The region has found its footing. Now it must find its stride.
