PPC Renewables Romania plans to install a 45.72 MW/91.44 MWh battery at the Fântânele-Vest wind farm, adding two hours of storage to one of Romania’s most important renewable generation assets.
The project carries an estimated investment cost of €18.8 million, equivalent to approximately €411,000 per MW or €206 per kWh of storage capacity. The EU Modernisation Fund will contribute €1.55 million, covering around 8.3% of the total, while PPC will finance the remaining €17.3 million.
The battery will be integrated with the 262.5 MW Fântânele-Vest wind farm, comprising 105 turbines. The asset forms part of the 600 MW Fântânele-Cogealac complex, acquired by Greek utility PPC in 2024. The wider complex generates approximately 1.25 TWh annually.
At 91.44 MWh, the battery cannot shift a large share of the wind farm’s daily production. Its value lies instead in short-duration optimisation: reducing imbalance exposure, responding to forecast errors, shifting output between low- and high-price hours and providing ancillary services.
The economics will depend on access to multiple revenue streams. Day-ahead arbitrage alone may be insufficient to support the investment during periods of compressed spreads. Balancing services, intraday trading, congestion management and reduced curtailment can provide a broader earnings base.
PPC has announced similar storage investments at the Corugea wind farm and Colibași solar plant, indicating that batteries are becoming a standard component of its Romanian renewable portfolio rather than isolated pilot projects.
The company currently operates approximately 1.6 GW of renewable capacity in Romania and plans to reach 3.6 GW by the end of 2028 and 4.7 GW by 2030. That expansion will increase portfolio-level forecasting and balancing requirements, strengthening the strategic value of distributed storage.
The relatively modest grant contribution also gives the project commercial significance. PPC is committing most of the capital itself, suggesting that flexibility revenues and portfolio optimisation are beginning to support investment independently of heavy subsidy.
