Romania starts auctioning grid connection capacity

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Romania's transmission system operator Transelectrica opens auctions for grid connection capacity on 30 October 2026. Under the national capacity allocation rules, new generation and storage installations of 5 MW or more and capacity increases at existing sites now compete for their place on the grid. Sessions run every working day from 08:00 to 13:00, with results published within three hours of each close.

Little capacity and none before 2032

The published figures set a tight ceiling. Transelectrica lists available capacity for ten grid zones across the allocation years 2028 to 2037. Every zone shows zero capacity from 2028 to 2031. Three of the ten zones show none in any year. The zone and year values in the table add up to 1,566 MW.

The earliest capacity sits in two zones in 2032, with 66 MW in zone H and 346 MW in zone I. One zone follows in 2035 with 80 MW. In 2036 zone B offers 201 MW and zone D offers 661 MW, the largest single block, reserved for connection to the transmission network. The remaining blocks come in 2037, with 50 MW in zone A, 62 MW in zone J and 100 MW in zone D reserved for the distribution network. All of this capacity depends on additional grid development works being carried out first.

Starting prices reflect the cost of reinforcement

Each zone and year carries its own starting price, calculated as the estimated cost of the required grid works divided by the capacity they release. Published starting prices run from 724,569 lei per MW for the 2036 transmission block in zone D to 3,843,000 lei per MW for the 2037 distribution block in the same zone. Bids below the starting price are automatically invalidated.

Bids are ranked from highest to lowest, with ties broken by the time the bid was placed. Where the requests in a zone fit within the available capacity, the allocation contract is signed at a zero price. Where they do not, winners pay either the starting price or their own bid, depending on the allocation scenario that applies. Please note that if a project's planned commissioning year shows zero capacity, it may bid for other years in which capacity is published.

The financial commitment

Participation requires a guarantee of EUR 20,000 per MW requested in 2026. From 2027 the guarantee becomes the lower of that amount and the previous year's weighted average contract price. Winning bidders pay at least 20% of the allocated capacity value within 30 days of the contract and the full amount within four months, backed by a payment guarantee of 1% of the contract value. Allocated capacity covers a ten-year period starting in the second year after the auction.

What it means for wind, solar and storage developers

Grid access in Romania now has an explicit price and an explicit date. For projects that need capacity through these auctions, the earliest published route to the grid is 2032 and in most zones later. The cost of the network reinforcement is paid upfront, within four months of the contract. That moves grid capacity to the front of the business case alongside the CfD or PPA strategy that sits behind it.

The rules also bring transparency. Developers can now see zone by zone how much capacity exists, when it arrives and what it costs. That lets them plan their pipeline around it. Storage is eligible on the same terms as generation, which gives battery developers a defined route to the grid where reinforcement allows.

Synertics tracks PPA, capture, balancing and ancillary service prices across European markets in SEMT. If you are weighing a Romanian wind, solar or storage project against a 2032 or later connection date and want to test what that does to its revenue case, you can start with SEMT at https://synertics.io/signup/ or reach us at info@synertics.io to discuss it in more detail.