Solar PV Manufacturing Slated To Come To Romania

• Romania's state aid request for €259 million under RRF has been approved by the EC
• It is available for companies in the production, assembly and recycling of solar cells, panels and batteries
• The scheme will remain in effect till December 31, 2024 and provided by the Romanian government as direct grants

Romania may just become the next solar PV manufacturing hub for Europe as the European Commission (EC) has approved a €259 million state aid for the country to support investments in the production, assembly and recycling of solar cells, panels and batteries.

Proceeds will be provided by the Romanian authorities as direct grants to companies active in the production, assembly and recycling of solar cells, panels and batteries to companies operating in the country's areas eligible for regional aid. The scheme will run till December 31, 2024.

To be made available through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the aid is aimed at regional development by targeting sectors with growth growing demand and generate jobs, as well as to foster Romania's and the European Union's (EU) green transition, the EC stated.

"This €259 million Romanian scheme, partially funded via the Recovery and Resilience Facility, will provide key support to the production of batteries, photovoltaic cells and panels," said Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy at the EC, Margrethe Vestager. "The measure approved today will promote the economic development of the most disadvantaged areas in Romania, in line with the Union's cohesion objectives, while contributing to the acceleration of the green transition."

This announcement from the EC should give a boost to Romanian plans for solar manufacturing. Back in March 2021, Spanish PV equipment supplier Mondragon Assembly announced an agreement with Romania's Karpat Solar for a solar module production line with 100 MW annual capacity. Transylvania located Karpat Solar aimed to become the 1^st solar module manufacturer in the country with plans to expand it to a large-scale project in the future (see 100 MW Solar PV Module Production Line In Romania).

The following year in May 2022, Hungary based Astrasun said it was preparing to implement 1.2 GW solar projects and 3 factories—one each for ingot wafer (1.8 GW), solar cells (1.5 GW) and modules (1.2 GW) in Romania in Turnu Măgurele region.

Enphase Energy of the US is set to launch its microinverter manufacturing facility in the country by Q1/2023 (see North America PV News Snippets).