Romania’s energy investment cycle is entering a new phase, in which companies and public authorities will have to rely less on traditional grants and more on financial instruments, regional cooperation and projects of regional importance, said Paul Șerbănescu, Head of Non-reimbursable funds and public financial instruments, PPC Romania, at the 11th HAEE Energy Transition Symposium, during the Romanian renewables panel powered by Energynomics.
His intervention came in the context of a discussion on the financing of renewable energy projects in Romania, after several years in which public money from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Modernisation Fund and other European sources played an important role in restarting the market.
Șerbănescu warned that this model is changing. The current European multiannual financial framework is coming to an end, while the next one will be built on a different philosophy, closer to the logic of milestones and targets used in the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The main consequence, he said, is that grant-based instruments will gradually fade, leaving more room for financial instruments.
This means blended finance, guarantees and contracts for difference will become increasingly relevant for energy investors. For Romania, where grants have helped accelerate renewable energy projects, the change requires a shift in mindset. Șerbănescu said Romania and its regional partners must move away from a mindset centred on grants and non-reimbursable instruments, and prepare for a new financing philosophy based more on financial instruments.
Regional projects move higher on the financing agenda
The change is not only financial, but also strategic. In his view, companies and countries in the region should strengthen cooperation and design projects of regional importance. Romania, Greece and Bulgaria will not operate in isolation when competing for future European resources. They will compete with larger economies such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain for the same money.
This makes regional relevance more than a diplomatic theme. In Șerbănescu’s reading, future European financing will increasingly favour projects that can demonstrate strategic importance beyond one national market. He pointed to the future “Global Europe” programme, which he described as a major instrument supporting European companies outside the EU, including in Asia, Africa and neighbouring countries such as Moldova and Ukraine.
Later in the discussion, Șerbănescu returned to the financing issue from the perspective of flexibility. Asked about financing for flexibility solutions and integrated business models combining generation, storage and system services, Șerbănescu said the issue remains “debatable” and pointed first to a misalignment in public funding strategy: support schemes could not, at the same time, encourage more electricity supply while also reducing demand. He expects this logic to be corrected in future funding programmes.
Storage remains one of the areas where public support can play an important role. Șerbănescu referred to the Modernisation Fund and noted that grants had already been obtained for colocated batteries. He also mentioned the expectation of a standalone storage support scheme, aiming to install more than 2 GWh of storage capacity.
However, his most important point on flexibility was that it begins with the grid. Romania needs investment in grids in order to absorb and move the energy produced by new renewable capacities. But this does not necessarily mean only new lines or new poles. Smart solutions, smart meters and better monitoring of existing infrastructure can also increase grid flexibility.
For investors, his message is clear: the next stage of Romania’s energy market will not be financed only through classic subsidies, and it will not be solved only by adding generation capacity. Bankable projects will increasingly need to combine financial sophistication, regional relevance, storage, flexibility and grid intelligence. In this new phase, the winners will be those able to move from grant applications to structured financing, and from individual projects to integrated regional solutions.