Israel-headquartered independent power producer (IPP) Econergy has started commercial operations at its 87MW Oradea solar project in Romania.
Built in the west of the country, the Oradea project is the company’s fourth to begin operations in the country, following the start of work at a 92MW project last April. Econergy plans to add a 68MW battery energy storage system (BESS), and noted that it is in “advanced discussions” to secure financing for this next phase of construction.
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The company noted that Israeli insurance provider the Phoenix Group was involved in the project development, and has now invested more than €225 million (US$262 million) into Econergy’s projects in Romania.
“The successful connection of Oradea marks another important milestone for Econergy in Romania,” said Econergy CEO Eyal Podhorzer. “We are proud to strengthen our partnership with Phoenix Holdings as we continue to expand our renewable energy platform across Europe.”
The company now has an operational portfolio of 447MW of solar capacity in Romania, with 778MW of capacity under construction and a further 559MW set to begin construction before the end of the year. However, Econergy’s pipeline has shrunk in the last year, with the sale of a 214MW project in the planning stage to an unnamed Balkan conglomerate.
While solar power has not historically been a dominant part of the Romanian energy mix, the country’s solar sector has grown considerably in recent years. The country’s solar sector added 1.7GW of capacity in 2024, pushing cumulative capacity to almost 5GW, and the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association has said that this capacity could almost double to 9GW by 2027.
Earlier this month, the government allocated 1.4GW of capacity to the PV sector in the most recent round of its contracts for difference (CfD) programme, with support going to the Dama Solar plant, which is expected to have more than 1GW of capacity when completed.
PV Tech publisher Solar Media will host the fifth edition of Large Scale Solar Central and Eastern Europe in Warsaw, Poland, from 25-26 November 2025. The event will focus on the Eastern Europe solar and storage sectors, with a packed programme of panels from industry leaders, responsible for the build out of solar and storage projects in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and the Baltics. For more information visit the event website.
