Romania's energy minister Sebastian Burduja approved the final draft of the 15-year Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, aimed to support the development of photovoltaic and wind projects with a capacity of 5MW based on EUR 3 billion financing from the EU budget, the ministry announced.

Concerns related to the scheme regard the final budget that might exceed EUR 3 billion and the comparatively better alternative of allowing investors to finance their projects with long-term contracts while not intervening in the market with CfD prices.

Minister Burduja said he expects to launch the tender for 0.5GW of solar and 1MW of onshore wind farms in mid-November.

A second auction, which will cover a total capacity of 3,500 MW from onshore wind and photovoltaic projects, is scheduled for launch next year.

"The price will be determined following a competitive auction, with a maximum starting threshold of EUR 78 per MWh for photovoltaic projects and EUR 82 per MWh for onshore wind farms. I invite as many investors as possible to participate in this auction and contribute to the transformation of the energy sector in Romania," minister Burduja said, quoted by Economica.net.

The first auction's maximum prices were thus revised down from an initial EUR 91 and EUR 93 per MWh.

The Ministry of Energy will announce the next steps in the auction, the first of which will be the organization of a clarification session with potential bidders to discuss the auction rules. 

Submission of offers will take place in mid-November, until mid-December anticipating the evaluation of the offers. The signing of contracts for the first tender is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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