Diana Buzoianu announced a battery energy storage program, with a budget of 400 million lei: “It will help lower the price”

Minister of the Environment, Waters and Forests, Diana Buzoianu, announced on Monday at the “Energy Plugged In” conference that the program for storing photovoltaic energy in batteries will be launched in 2026 and could help lower prices on the energy market.

The program is expected to support prosumers who have photovoltaic panels but do not yet have storage systems. According to the minister, batteries would allow energy produced during the day to be used in the evening, reducing the need for imports during peak periods, when energy is more expensive.

Buzoianu said that she wants this measure to become public policy for at least the next three or four years, so that it can keep pace with the growing number of photovoltaic panels being installed. If the program is launched this year, the batteries could be installed in 2027.

A budget of 400 million lei is currently earmarked for the program. The Ministry of the Environment intends to abandon the “first come, first served” principle and evaluate applications, with the level of co-financing being one of the important criteria. The change aims to install as many batteries as possible with the available funds. The minister also linked the need for storage to the recent crises caused by drought and production problems at Cernavodă.