Romania opens €650 million solar and battery programs for public institutions
Romania is launching two Modernisation Fund programs worth €650 million for solar generation and battery storage at public institutions. Funding can cover up to 100% of eligible costs, with a ceiling of €10 million per beneficiary.
Two programs target public-sector energy use
Romania is opening two Modernisation Fund programs with a combined budget of €650 million to help public institutions generate and store renewable electricity for their own consumption. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said he had signed the orders launching the funding measures, according to Stiripesurse.ro.
The larger program allocates €500 million for photovoltaic panels paired with battery storage. Projects may also include heat pumps, while the electricity generated must be used for the beneficiary’s own needs. Batteries are mandatory and must be sized to provide between two and four hours of operation.
A separate €150 million program is intended for public institutions that already operate renewable energy generation systems. These beneficiaries will be able to install behind-the-meter batteries, storing electricity produced on site and using it later for their own consumption.
Municipalities, hospitals and universities are eligible
The programs are open to municipalities, county councils, public hospitals, state universities, social centers and other public institutions. Financing may cover up to 100% of eligible expenditure, subject to a maximum of €10 million for each beneficiary.
That ceiling would allow large public-sector energy users to combine generation, storage and, where applicable, heat pumps within a single investment. For smaller institutions, full coverage of eligible costs could remove a major financing constraint, although access will depend on application readiness and the remaining program budget.
Applications will be handled in submission order
The calls open on Friday, September 11. Applications must be submitted through Romania’s Agency for Financing Rural Investments, known as AFIR, by November 6, 2026, or until the available budget is exhausted. Projects will be accepted in the order in which they are filed.
Evaluation is scheduled to run from November 9, 2026, through February 12, 2027. Approved investments must be completed and commissioned by December 31, 2029, giving beneficiaries less than three years after the evaluation period to procure, install and connect the equipment.
Storage is central to the funding design
The requirement for two-to-four-hour batteries in the €500 million program places storage at the center of new public-sector solar projects rather than treating it as an optional addition. The €150 million program extends the same approach to institutions that already own renewable generation but lack the capacity to shift production to later periods.
The measures are intended to reduce energy bills, improve the use of electricity generated on site and ease pressure on the grid during periods of high consumption. The programs could create demand for photovoltaic modules, battery systems, inverters, heat pumps, engineering services and installation capacity through 2029. Their final impact on distributed generation and storage capacity will depend on the number and scale of approved projects, figures that were not provided in the announcement.
