Romania’s Decision Makers | Editorial Series by The Diplomat-Bucharest  

As the energy sector undergoes a profound transformation driven by digitalization, automation, and the integration of advanced technologies, workforce requirements are evolving at an unprecedented pace. Today’s energy systems demand a new blend of expertise—where traditional engineering meets digital competencies such as data analytics, system management, and advanced control technologies. In this context, stronger collaboration between universities, research institutes, and industry players is becoming essential to ensure that education and training keep pace with the sector’s rapidly changing needs.

At the same time, renewable energy sources have emerged as the most competitive solution for new energy generation, with the potential to cover the majority of demand. Yet, unlocking their full value depends on integrating them with flexible solutions such as battery storage, pumped storage, flexible natural gas plants, and enhanced regional interconnections. Together, these elements can ensure both security of supply and more stable, affordable energy prices. As new capacities come online in the coming years, their economic impact will become increasingly visible—while also reshaping the broader economic ecosystem.

In this evolving landscape, the key question for investors is no longer just about delivering projects, but about ensuring that the energy transition works effectively in practice. Companies like PPC are already turning ambition into reality through innovative infrastructure, contributing not only to decarbonization but also to sustainable economic growth.

In this interview with Adrian Dugulan, General Manager of PPC Renewables Romania, for The Diplomat-Bucharest, we explore how these transformations are unfolding on the ground, what challenges lie ahead, and how industry leaders are working to make the energy transition both viable and impactful. 

From your perspective, how attractive is Romania today compared to other CEE markets when you allocate capital and investments?

Romania and Greece are two of the fastest developing countries in the EU. For PPC Group, Romania is one of the most compelling markets in Central and Eastern Europe for long-term energy investments. As a country we sit at the intersection between favourable natural resources for renewable generation with a sizeable domestic electricity market and a strategic geographic position within the broader South-Eastern European energy landscape.

Over the last few years PPC Renewables has consistently expanded its operations, aiming to become a leading clean power tech and critical infrastructure across the entire region, not just Romania. As large-scale energy transmission projects such as the Green Corridor progress, green generation projects would enable our infrastructure to supply our customers with clean, reliable and affordable energy.

From an investor’s perspective, especially an investor that is here for long-term development, the most important factor is predictability. Those large-scale energy infrastructure investments are being planned over decades, so stability in both market structure and regulation is critical. Romania can offer this type of environment, particularly as the market gradually evolves toward a new equilibrium with more renewable capacity.

How do you evaluate Romania in terms of cost competitiveness versus productivity and value creation?

If you look at the Romanian energy landscape today, we already have a stable mix, compared to other states that rely more heavily on fossil fuels, and yes, this current energy mix is also insufficient today. But that may not be the case in the nearer future.  More importantly is to look at how this landscape will turn out to be in the long run, maybe ten years from now on. What technologies we’re developing now, and how we choose which current technologies go well together will ultimately shape the value of renewable energy.

However, productivity and value creation in the energy sector today are no longer defined solely by installed capacity. The sector is transitioning from a centralized production model to a more decentralized and technologically integrated system. In this context, value is increasingly generated through flexibility, digitalization and the ability to balance different technologies.

Today we are building more hybrid wind farms and PV parks, coupled with battery energy storage systems (BESS), while upgrading some of our already operational assets with storage systems. You will hear more from us over the course of this year on the topic of storage, as other projects are in various stages of development.

So, what PPC Renewables is looking at, and actively contributing to, is the latter two of the questions. We deploy more RES capacities and couple those capacities with adjacent technologies such as storage systems to balance out the intermittent nature of renewable sources, with the aim of creating a valuable ecosystem out of renewables that complements the overall energy mix of Romania now, and in the years to come.

What are the top three factors that most influence your investment decisions in Romania: regulation, infrastructure, talent, taxation, or market size?

Most renewable capacities such as wind and photovoltaic usually take no more than two years to build, with the main requirements generally being a lot of upfront capital. The most important aspect is connecting those capacities to the existing infrastructure. Here, grid deployment is the main factor enabling investments. There are dozens of European-level studies that are incredibly well researched and ready to be cited, the best example being Eurelectric’s “Grid for Speed” report. But the general outlook remains similar: grids are the foundation of the entire infrastructure, billion-euro investments are needed annually to keep up, and the development of grids determines, in turn, how fast and efficient new capacities are being deployed.

On top of scaling the grids infrastructure, regulation remains important, especially for larger investments. As previously mentioned, renewable energy projects require significant upfront capital and sometimes development cycles can stretch from the moment you map out a project, add it to your pipeline and the moment you start building at the construction site. So, investors need confidence that the regulatory framework will remain predictable and forward-looking.

Lastly, long-term demand drives not only when, but literally where you invest in. To be more precise, there is a clear disparity between Northern and Southern Romania in terms of renewable energy production, while demand is expected to grow in the upcoming years. That’s what we are tackling with Prowind North, our 140 MW wind farm in Vaslui County. The first phase is already in very advanced stages, with all 23 turbines being erected, with ongoing progress on the connection to the grid and substation. The second phase, Prowind South will add another 14 wind turbines, bringing the total installed capacity of the entire project to over 225 MW.

Romania’s long-term demand outlook is very attractive. Electrification of transport, heating and industrial processes will gradually increase electricity consumption, while new types of energy-intensive infrastructure, such as digital and data processing facilities, are beginning to reshape consumption patterns.

How could public authorities better support large investors and strategic industries?

The most effective support would come from accelerating permitting procedures and ensuring greater consistency in how regulations are applied across administrative levels. Recently, we’ve seen positive steps in addressing key areas that generate bottlenecks, such as removing a significant number of technical grid connection approvals (ATRs) for old projects with thousands of MWs that got ‘secured’ by investors on paper but never saw the light of day.

Beyond the infrastructure, there is also a need to address what we could call the “soft infrastructure” of the system. In many cases, project timelines are extended by lengthy permitting processes and naturally, as investment activity increases, we face a slowdown in processing connection approvals at the stage where requests are made for projects to be put into operation. Long response and approval times often cascade into delays, which in turn slow down the actual integration of new generation capacities into the system.

Equally important is the continued development of electricity networks. Stronger and more interconnected grids will allow renewable capacity, storage solutions and new industrial consumers to develop more rapidly.

What should Romania change in education or workforce policies to better match business realities? / What should Romania’s economic strategy prioritize to stay competitive in the next decade?

The energy sector is undergoing a structural transformation driven by digitalization, automation and the integration of multiple technologies. As follows, the workforce requirements of the sector are evolving rapidly. Modern energy systems increasingly require expertise that combines traditional engineering with digital competencies such as data analysis, system management and advanced control technologies. Strengthening cooperation between universities, research institutes and the industry as a whole can be the key puzzle piece in ensuring educational programs evolve in line with these needs.

How confident are you about Romania’s economic outlook for 2026–2030?

Renewable energy sources are currently the most competitive way to produce new energy and can meet most of the demand. However, in order to fully exploit their value, they must be combined with flexible solutions, such as batteries, pumped storage, flexible natural gas plants and stronger regional interconnections, where possible. Together, these solutions ensure both security of supply and better prices. So as new capacities are coming online, this year and in the next few years, their economic effects will become more and more visible. But we must remain smart about it, as we are in the process of redesigning and creating new economic ecosystems.

For us, as investors, the more appropriate question would be how to make sure that we are not only delivering projects but actually making this transition work in a practical way. Businesses like PPC are delivering, turning ambition into innovative infrastructure, but the ultimate target is to keep economies running and create lasting growth.

The latest IEA Electricity 2026 report sends a very clear signal that global electricity demand is entering a structurally higher growth phase. This is not a cyclical spike, it is a deep structural change and two drivers stand out: AI and cooling. Cooling alone is expected to add several hundred gigawatts of peak demand globally by the mid-2030s.

Electrification is the only sustainable way forward. Our societies are getting increasingly urbanized, the demand for electricity is greater as e-mobility grows, as other sectors are electrified. Technology is making electricity cheaper, more stable and reliable, liberating it from the price fluctuations of fossil fuels, so Romania has tremendous potential for new wind and solar PV plants to address the capacity deficit and offer the best energy costs. We remain confident that this is the way forward to ensure prosperity for economies and societies.

Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities during this period? / What industries could realistically become Romania’s strategic champions by 2030?

Renewables work best as part of a diversified technological ecosystem. Wind, solar, storage and other flexible solutions complement each other and help address the variability inherent to renewable production.

At the same time, electricity demand will evolve as new sectors expand. Digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence will increasingly require reliable and sustainable energy sources, creating new opportunities for producers. We’ve already seen the surge in demand for data centers across Western Europe and it’s not far-fetched that this demand will soon reach CEE Region as well.

In post‑1990 Romania, markets opened and companies privatized, and a small number of firms quickly adopted PCs, databases, and early enterprise software. Then, in the early 2000s during the dot‑com boom, internet service providers and the infrastructure laid at the time (fiber‑optic networks, hosting facilities, broadband) became the backbone for modern e‑commerce, cloud computing, social media, and the way society interacted with information. Now, why shouldn’t we embrace AI as simply the next leap forward? Just like internet service providers before, today clean, flexible energy generation, digitalized grids, and the broader energy infrastructure will serve both as the backbone and the enabler for data centers and artificial intelligence. And this is the essence of PPC Group’s vision of becoming the leading PowerTech company in the region: by combining clean generation with advanced technologies, the ultimate goal is to enable better living for all of us.

What investment priorities will define your company’s roadmap in Romania over the next 3–5 years?

Over recent years, PPC Group has consistently expanded its operations, aiming to become a leading clean power tech and critical infrastructure player across Southeast Europe. In Romania, PPC Renewables currently is the largest private renewable energy producer, with a portfolio of over 1.5 GW in operational capacities. In the last two years we’ve effectively doubled our operational capacities, and we are committed to reaching our 2 GW milestone by the end of this year. Looking forward, we will keep expanding our portfolio with large-scale projects and storage systems, which will ensure future security of supply and lead to better prices.