Romania allocates $666 million for solar rebates

Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă says the government will allocate RON 3 billion ($666.2 million) this year for the Casa Verde Fotovoltaice (green PV home) scheme, in order to support residential solar installations under the national net-metering regime.

The program provides rebates for installations larger than 3 kW in size, which cover up to 90% of the array costs, provided that the grant does not exceed RON 20,000 for conventional projects and RON 25,000 for projects in isolated areas.

The Romanian authorities say that the new budget will enable the deployment of more than 150,000 PV systems. The government claims this ambitious target could be reached with new rules to simplify the installation of rooftop arrays.

“Homeowners will have just to show an identity document, proof that the beneficiary has no debts to the state or local authorities, and a grid-connection permit,” said Ciucă.

Romania’s Environment Fund Administration (AFM), the state agency for environmental protection, will likely approve the new budget in mid-February and launch a call to select interested homeowners in March. In 2022, the Ministry of Environment allocated RON 280 million for the rebate program.

Romania’s net-metering regulations, which apply to all systems up to 100 kW in size, include fiscal incentives for owners of PV systems with capacities of up to 27 kW. Under that scheme, owners of renewable energy systems are allowed to sell surplus power to the country’s four power distributors – Enel, CEZ, Eon and Electrica – at rates set by the energy regulator, depending on the distributor.

According to the latest statistics from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Romania had 1,396 MW of solar installed at the end of 2021.