On Monday, starting at 1:00 p.m., for a four-hour period, the price of electricity was zero on the PZUM, but from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., it exceeded 100 euros, which demonstrates the importance of installing storage capacity, especially in conditions where costs have decreased by around 20% compared to the level 13 years ago, said Gabriel Andronache, vice president of the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), at a specialized event.
"I looked this morning - actually I do it every day, every morning I receive the data for the PZUM for that day - and I found (...) that today, starting at 1:00 p.m., for a four-hour period, the price of electricity is zero on the PZUM, but I also found that starting at 7:00 p.m., until 11:00 p.m., the price jumps by 100 euros, and then we sit and think: is it profitable for those who install solar production capacities - indeed, there are also costs, but with low yields - to end up injecting with zero or is it necessary to do delayed production through these storage capacities? Prosumers have realized - and I have talked to them - they have realized that it is more important and more beneficial to install storage capacity. We know very well that the capacity "...the cost of storage capacity has dropped to around 20% compared to what it was 13 years ago," Andronache said at the "Focus Energetic" conference.
The ANRE official admitted that the price of energy matters a lot in a country's competitiveness, because only in this way can investments be attracted for its development.
"Indeed, the price of energy matters a lot in the competitiveness of a country, along with what raw materials, taxation, the workforce mean, and with all this we must look at whether and how we can make prices lower and lower, so that we can attract investments in the economic area, so that Romania can develop. If we look carefully at what is happening and what has happened in the last period, I will not go into the numbers a lot as I usually do, but I can say that (...) if we look at the number of ATRs (Technical Connection Approvals - n. r.), then we look at the connection requests, then we look at the approvals, establishment authorizations and so on and how much is being implemented, we will find that we are somewhere below "4% of what we have ATRs issued, out of capacity, which is not a good thing," he warned.
According to the vice president of the authority, as of December 2025 there were 297,000 prosumers, and 66,000 of them had installed storage capacity.
"A good thing, because in the production area we always have to take into account prosumers, here I will come with some data. In December we found that we reached the threshold of 297,000 prosumers and one thing that is very, very gratifying is the fact that we have 66,000 prosumers who have installed storage capacities. And if I look at what happened in the last semester of last year, we see a very large increase in the number of those who are prosumers and are installing storage capacities. So, in December, there were another 7,000 prosumers who installed production capacities, from 287,000 to 294,000, so 7,000 places of consumption, of prosumers, but in return 10,000 prosumers installed storage. So that we can "Let's also look at what it means in terms of capacity, among prosumers there are about 3,400 megawatts installed in photovoltaic panels," he said.
Andronache emphasized that a very important thing is efficiency, the highest being achieved in the nuclear area.
"In the future, what can we do after we pass the production area - and we know very well that we are waiting for Mintia, Iernut and so on - we also want Groups 3 and 4 from Cernavoda to start, in order to have energy in the band with high yields, because this is a very important thing, to have yield. Nuclear works with an efficiency of about 90%, solar works with an efficiency of 17, from calculations, wind with 23. After that, we must go to the transport infrastructure and see what we can do there. We know very well that this infrastructure is regulated and if on the other hand the market regulates the production price, in this area it depends on investments and we must look very carefully at the fact that in the last period - and it is a gratifying thing - everyone in transport and "... from distribution applied for European funds. We found that those in distribution applied for 105 projects for the Modernization Fund for a value of 2.4 billion euros, but, unfortunately, the total value of the Modernization Fund is 1.1 (billion euros - ed.n)", the ANRE representative showed.
In this context, he emphasized that solutions must be found to finance all submitted projects, since these costs, if borne by companies, will be reflected in transmission and distribution tariffs.
"Here we consider that we could look for solutions to increase this amount to be allocated, because, if we don't increase it, we will end up with that difference - so it is clear that those projects are necessary for the national energy system - and if those projects are done with the companies' money, they will certainly be found in the tariff and we will end up reducing the production price, but we will increase it in terms of transport, distribution, the other areas that are regulated. So, looking at all these aspects, we must take them into account, take them step by step, including developing what the interconnection area means. (...) In order to be competitive as a country from an economic point of view, the price of energy must be reduced, and we have premises that we could do these things. We must have a little patience, but on the other hand On the other hand, let's be more committed and support those who really want and have the capacity to make investments," concluded Gabriel Andronache.
The Focus Energetic publication organized, on Monday, at the Palace of Parliament, the XLIV edition of the Focus Energetic Conferences, "The Influence of Investments in the Energy Sector in Increasing the Competitiveness of the Romanian Economy".
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