Turkish engineering and energy-service companies are looking beyond equipment sales towards industrial projects combining energy audits, automation, heat recovery and performance-based financing. A business seminar held in Ploiești showed why Prahova’s concentration of energy-intensive companies could make the county an important testing ground for these solutions.

The interest of Turkish energy companies in Romania is becoming increasingly focused on industrial modernisation. Alongside renewable-energy development and conventional infrastructure, suppliers are now promoting projects designed to reduce factories’ energy consumption, recover waste heat and improve the control of industrial processes.

This shift was visible at the seminar “Advanced energy efficiency and decarbonisation solutions in the context of the European Green Deal”, organised on 14 July by the Prahova Chamber of Commerce and Industry together with Turk Invest Romania.

The event brought together approximately 90 participants representing more than 60 Romanian and Turkish companies, alongside representatives of the Turkish Embassy, the Prahova County Council, the prefecture and local authorities. The discussions were followed by bilateral business meetings intended to identify potential partnerships and industrial projects.

For the Turkish companies involved, Prahova offers a relevant concentration of prospective industrial customers. Industry accounts for a particularly large share of the county’s economy, while the local production base includes refining, chemicals, equipment manufacturing, food processing and other activities with significant electricity, steam, cooling and process-heat requirements. Available county data indicate that industry generates around 38% of local turnover, compared with 27% nationally.

The immediate opportunity is therefore not necessarily the construction of new generating capacity. It is the modernization of existing plants, where energy costs can be reduced through relatively well-defined interventions.

From equipment supply to guaranteed savings

One of the central concepts presented in Ploiești was the Energy Performance Contract, under which an energy-service company develops and implements a project and links its remuneration or investment recovery to the savings achieved. The model can reduce the client’s initial capital burden, although each project still requires a clearly defined baseline, independent measurement and contractual allocation of technical and financial risks.

The solutions discussed included industrial heat pumps, waste-heat recovery, absorption and high-efficiency centrifugal chillers, Organic Rankine Cycle systems that convert residual heat into electricity, real-time energy-monitoring platforms and water-recovery systems.

Turkish energy-services company ESCON Enerji, working with the Romanian project-development and consultancy company EDC Investment, presented a portfolio covering waste-heat recovery, process cooling, industrial heat pumps, renewable energy, carbon management and digital energy monitoring. Their proposed cooperation model combines ESCON’s technical capabilities with local market access, project management, tender support and financial coordination supplied by EDC.

ESCON says it has worked with more than 1,200 industrial facilities, completed over 1,300 turnkey projects and implemented 42 energy-performance contracts. Its Romanian proposition is relevant particularly for factories where low-temperature residual heat is currently discharged but could be reused for hot water, process heating or climate control.

Data from 500 facilities assessed by the company in Türkiye indicate an average identified energy-saving potential of 27.8%, with an estimated average payback period of 3.11 years. These figures should not be transferred automatically to Romanian plants, but they illustrate why a detailed energy audit can reveal opportunities extending well beyond rooftop solar installations.

Automation and electrical infrastructure are part of the efficiency equation

Another participant, BRN Romania, presented industrial automation, instrumentation and mechanical engineering services. Its solutions include PLC and DCS control systems, SCADA development, energy monitoring and reporting, electrical panels, process instrumentation and the modernisation of combustion systems.

These technologies can help industrial operators identify abnormal consumption, control equipment according to actual production demand and connect energy data with operating parameters. BRN Romania describes itself as a Bucharest-based engineering company active in Romania, Türkiye and other European markets, targeting sectors including refining, petrochemicals, steel, food and energy infrastructure.

Altınsoy Enerji illustrated the equipment-supply component of the Turkish offer. The manufacturer produces distribution transformers, medium-voltage equipment, disconnectors and electrical distribution panels, with products that can be adapted to national technical standards and project requirements. Such equipment is relevant when efficiency projects require the refurbishment of substations, the connection of on-site generation or the reinforcement of industrial distribution systems.

Turkish involvement in Romania is already extending into local manufacturing. Hatboru Romania, a Turkish-Romanian joint venture operating a steel-pipe factory in Giurgiu, reports an annual production capacity of 50,000 tonnes and more than 150 employees. Its products can be used in water, district-heating, gas, oil, hydropower and industrial-pipeline projects. Although the plant is not located in Prahova, it demonstrates that Turkish participation can move from commercial representation towards production and integration into Romanian supply chains.