Econergy Renewable Energy has started commercial operations at the 59 MW Iancu Jianu solar plant in Romania, adding another operational asset to the country’s rapidly expanding photovoltaic fleet and strengthening the developer’s solar-plus-storage strategy.
The project is the fifth grid-connected solar facility developed by Econergy in Romania. With its commissioning, the company’s Romanian portfolio of projects that are connected to the grid or ready for connection has reached 743 MW, while a further 861 MW is currently under construction.
The Iancu Jianu site is also set to become a combined solar-and-storage facility. Econergy plans to install a 35 MW/70 MWh battery energy storage system during the second quarter of 2027, giving the project two hours of storage duration.
The battery will allow electricity generated by the solar plant to be shifted toward periods when market prices are more favourable, rather than being sold exclusively during peak solar-production hours. It will also create additional opportunities to participate in balancing markets and periods of high electricity demand.
The addition of storage reflects a broader change in Romania’s renewable market, where rapidly increasing solar generation is creating greater differences between low-priced daytime periods and higher-value evening hours. For developers, batteries can help reduce exposure to price cannibalisation while providing additional sources of revenue beyond direct electricity sales.
Econergy plans to apply a similar solar-plus-storage model across other European projects as it seeks to diversify revenue streams and improve the economics of its renewable assets.
The company’s European development pipeline currently exceeds 12.5 GW, spanning Romania, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain and Greece. The Iancu Jianu project therefore represents not only an expansion of Econergy’s Romanian portfolio, but also a practical example of the integrated renewable generation and storage model the company intends to deploy across its wider European pipeline.
