Romania’s electricity consumption declined by 3.4% during the first five months of 2026, while domestic production increased by 6.2%, strengthening the country’s underlying power balance despite continuing two-way cross-border trading.
Consumption amounted to 20.21 TWh. Industrial users consumed 15.53 TWh, a decrease of 0.8%, while household demand fell by 11.3% to 4.51 TWh. Public-lighting consumption declined by 5.2% to 168.4 GWh.
The pronounced reduction in household demand accounted for most of the national decline. Industrial consumption was comparatively resilient, although the modest contraction still points to subdued power use among manufacturers and other large consumers.
Electricity production reached 22.33 TWh, supported by hydro, wind and solar. Hydropower generation increased by 23.2% to 6.38 TWh, becoming almost as large as thermal production, which fell by 4.4% to 6.68 TWh.
Output from the Cernavodă nuclear power plant declined by 12.3% to 4.04 TWh. Wind generation increased by 15.4% to 3.02 TWh, while solar production, including prosumers, rose by 35.9% to 2.21 TWh.
Wind and solar together generated 5.23 TWh, equivalent to approximately 23% of total production. Their combined output exceeded nuclear generation, illustrating the speed with which Romania’s supply structure is changing.
Electricity exports increased by 13.1% to 6.47 TWh, while imports declined by 11.8% to 6.88 TWh. Romania remained a small net importer on the gross trade figures, but the deficit narrowed to approximately 0.41 TWh.
The simultaneous growth of production, exports and renewable output reflects increasingly volatile hourly balances. Romania can export during periods of strong hydro, wind or solar generation while importing during evening peaks, low-wind periods or nuclear and thermal outages.
Higher renewable penetration strengthens Romania’s annual energy balance but increases the importance of storage, demand response and cross-border capacity. Solar production is expanding fastest, creating greater midday supply and a steeper evening ramp. Wind provides a different profile and higher annual utilisation, but its volatility creates separate balancing requirements.
The investment opportunity is consequently moving beyond generation capacity alone. Batteries, pumped storage, flexible gas units and network reinforcement will determine how much of Romania’s growing renewable output can be monetised without rising curtailment or deeper negative-price exposure.
