Bogdan Ivan: The project for new energy storage facilities “sat in a drawer for four months”

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In a post on his Facebook account, Bogdan Ivan writes that the interim prime minister “published the figures, the timeline, and the conditions as if they had just been released yesterday, along with the guidelines in the Official Gazette.”

According to him, last December “this project was launched at the Ministry of Energy: a support scheme for stand-alone battery storage facilities, funded by the Modernization Fund.”

In March of this year, “we obtained approval from the European Commission. Everything you read today in the prime minister’s post had already been established then: 150 million euros, a minimum of 2,174 MWh of new capacity, a cap of 69,000 euros/MWh, a maximum of 15 million per company, selection through a tender—the winner is whoever requests the lowest amount of aid,” according to the former minister.

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At the time, the public commitment made was “a call for projects to be launched in the second quarter of 2026.”

Ivan states that “the applicant’s guide, which was essentially finalized back in the spring, was published ‘yesterday,’ nearly half a year late.”

He also adds that contract submissions will not begin until September 1, while the contracts themselves will not be signed until next year.

“Project submissions: not until September 1. Contracts signed: in 2027,” according to the former Minister of Energy.

“Four months during which the document sat in a drawer. Four months during which Romania continued to sell its midday energy cheaply and import it expensively in the evening—exactly the problem this scheme is designed to solve. This delay isn’t some abstract administrative issue; it’s reflected in every Romanian’s electricity bill and in the grid’s balancing costs,” states Bogdan Ivan.

Nevertheless, the former minister welcomes “the fact that the project is moving forward. Good projects must continue regardless of who signs the ministerial order. That’s what continuity in energy means, and that’s what I consistently advocate for. But continuity doesn’t mean presenting as your own achievement a project that was developed, negotiated, and approved in Brussels by someone else, after you’ve kept it stalled for months.”

“Romania doesn’t need celebratory press releases about the work of others. It needs momentum. And that momentum was lost precisely when all it took was the push of a button,” concluded Bogdan Ivan.

On Tuesday, Ilie Bolojan announced that 150 million euros will be allocated for new energy storage facilities. These will be connected directly to the National Energy System. The projects will be financed through the Modernization Fund. They are expected to provide at least 2,174 MWh of new storage capacity.