Romania expands energy storage subsidies to more homeowners
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The Romanian Environment Fund Administration (AFM) changed its “Casa Verde Baterii” program to include homeowners who already have energy storage systems, allowing them to also apply for state funding.
Initially, the program excluded people with existing batteries, a rule that drew criticism from energy producers who also consume the power they generate, known as prosumers.
After public consultation, AFM revised the guidelines to permit these prosumers to receive funding, as long as the batteries were not previously financed with public funds. The AFM will now cover up to 75% of a project’s total cost, up to a maximum of 15,000 lei (including VAT). Applicants must contribute the remaining amount. The maximum eligible cost is now 1,500 lei per kilowatt-hour of installed storage capacity, an increase from the initial 1,250 lei/kWh.
To qualify, applicants must be registered prosumers who do not use the stored energy for commercial activities, or if they do, that energy must be separately metered. They also need to be current on their taxes and cannot have received prior public funding for the same storage system.
The program requires a minimum storage capacity of 10 kWh and prioritizes applicants based on their financial contribution and the capacity of the installed storage system, moving away from a first-come, first-served basis.
