The country seeks to develop its battery industry partly through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) resources, which provide state aid for the development of battery manufacturing, recycling facilities, and new electricity storage capacities.
The Ministry of Energy will finance the establishment of three production units and a facility for the production, testing, and recycling of electrolytes, with a total value of over 985 million lei (about 197 million euros). Of this, 485 million lei (about 97 million euros) is funded by the NRRP. The goal is to install a newly installed electricity storage capacity of 3.33 gigawatts (GW)/year.
Additionally, two other projects will receive state aid totalling 100 million lei, aiming to achieve a minimum of 240 megawatts (MW) (or 480 megawatt-hours, MWh) of newly installed operational capacity. One project is an electricity generation and storage facility, while the other is an energy storage system.
So far, 11 financing contracts have been signed, totalling about 603 million euros with about 78 million in co-financing from the NRRP. These projects together will generate an operational storage capacity of 1546 MWh.
“Romania can become a European leader in the field of battery manufacturing for electricity storage,” said Sebastian Burduja, Minister of Energy. “Through this initiative, we have accelerated this process and put Romania on the map of the world’s major battery manufacturers. Moreover, for the first time this year, we are using energy from new storage capacities in the national energy mix. The fact that we have battery technology produced in Romania, combined with the clear commitment from companies to invest in storage capacities, strengthens our position as an important European player in this segment.”
