Electrica begins permitting for nationwide one-gigawatt battery portfolio in Romania

• Romania’s Electrica started permitting 15 BESS projects totaling ~1 GWh, advancing grid flexibility and renewables integration.

Romanian power distributor and supplier Electrica SA has kicked off permitting for 15 battery energy storage system (BESS) projects totaling about 1 GWh, a portfolio move aimed at giving the country more room to add wind and solar while keeping the grid stable. The multi-site approach spreads risk, accelerates delivery and positions Electrica to operate a coordinated fleet rather than a patchwork of standalone assets.

While siting specifics weren’t disclosed, the blueprint is predictable: containerized lithium-ion units with sectionalized fire safety, redundant thermal management, and grid-forming inverters capable of synthetic inertia, fast frequency response and voltage control. A unified SCADA platform will orchestrate charge/discharge cycles across nodes, co-optimizing for energy arbitrage, ancillary services and capacity value while maintaining state of charge ahead of evening peaks.

Why it matters: Romania’s renewable buildout is accelerating, but curtailment and evening ramps are becoming more visible. Multi-hour storage soaks up low-cost daytime generation and redeploys it when demand climbs, reducing reliance on gas peakers and dampening price spikes. Locating systems at strong substations also helps defer some network upgrades by relieving congestion and improving local voltage profiles.

Permitting in parallel across 15 sites shortens the learning curve. Common designs, standardized emergency response plans, noise and landscaping measures, and clear decommissioning provisions will help move files through county approvals. Early reservations for long-lead gear—transformers, medium-voltage switchgear and protection systems—will be critical to keep timelines intact once construction begins.

Community benefits include construction jobs, local procurement and steady municipal revenues; environmental plans typically feature storm-water controls and biodiversity enhancements around compact project footprints. Post-commissioning, predictive maintenance—thermal scans, cell balancing and firmware updates—will be central to lifetime availability and safety.

If Electrica executes, the portfolio becomes a real-time flexibility layer on Romania’s grid: fewer midday renewable curtailments, smoother evening ramps and faster recovery from disturbances. In short, it’s the connective tissue that turns intermittent megawatt-hours into dependable megawatts.