Romania is preparing a €76mn household battery programme aimed at increasing self-consumption from the country’s rapidly expanding rooftop photovoltaic fleet rather than subsidising another wave of solar panels.
The proposed scheme would be open to households that already own photovoltaic systems. Successful applicants could receive support covering up to 75 per cent of eligible investment, subject to a subsidy ceiling of approximately €2,860 including VAT.
Households would finance the remaining share themselves. Eligible batteries would have to be newly installed, compatible with the existing photovoltaic system and offer at least 12 kWh of storage capacity.
The programme represents a notable change in Romanian residential energy policy. Rather than continuing to stimulate generation alone, authorities are trying to address the operational consequences created by large quantities of daytime solar production.
Household batteries would allow electricity generated during solar-rich hours to be stored and consumed later, reducing immediate injection into distribution grids. At system level, this could ease local constraints and reduce part of the steep transition between daytime solar surpluses and evening demand.
Applications are expected to be assessed using a points-based ranking system rather than a first-come-first-served model.
