Romania’s Renewable Energy Industry Soars 69% in 2022

The cumulative operating revenue of Romania’s renewable energy sector surged by an annual 69% to 9.6 billion euros ($10.1 billion) in 2022, as rising electricity prices coupled with a push towards the green energy transition created a favourable environment, a report published by Sofia-based business intelligence provider SeeNext on Thursday showed.

In 2022, Romania’s renewable energy sector posted a net profit margin of 21% after its bottom line more than doubled to 2 billion euro, according to the report titled Renewable Energy Industry in Romania: Riding the wave and catalysing growth. The report analyzed the performance of 633 companies active in the country’s renewable sector.

You can download the 2023 Renewable Energy in Southeast Europe report here.

With legislative efforts taking shape to boost predictability and new financing opportunities on the horizon, Romania’s renewable industry is poised to grow further, the report’s authors commented.

Strong performance in 2022 was spurred by companies in the operation, maintenance and asset management segment, whose total revenue grew by 69% to 8.5 billion euros, or 89% of the industry total.

Construction, engineering and project development companies grew their revenue by 57% to 895.4 million euros.

Despite constituting only 1.7% of the total industry revenue, the manufacturing segment saw the sharpest rise, expanding more than three times in the year to 161.6 million euros.

The report emphasized the importance of hydropower in the operation, maintenance and asset management segment, accounting for more than half of the revenue. Solar and wind was the runner-up sub-segment among operation, maintenance and asset management companies, generating 3.9 billion euros, or 46% of their revenue in 2022.

In the construction, engineering, and project development segment, solar and wind topped the list of renewables, slicing a share of 92% of the segment’s revenue in 2022.

Italy solidified its presence as the largest foreign investor in Romania’s renewables sector, controlling 43 companies, followed by Cyprus and the Czech Republic. Local shareholders controlled 62% of the companies within the country’s renewable sector.

Propelled by the EU’s legislative thrust towards green energy and a Green Certificate incentive scheme, Romania’s renewables sector witnessed a sharp spike in activity in 2010-2014, with 39% of the companies analyzed in the report being established in this period. After a downturn in activity following the closure of the Green Certificate scheme in 2016, more players emerged again in the 2017-2018 and 2021-2022 periods, signalling increased confidence in the green transition. However, the total headcount of the sector inched down by an annual 0.7% in 2021 before falling 8.5% on the year to 14,511 in 2022.