The Romanian wind energy industry is entering a period of strong growth, with 2026, 2027 and 2028 expected to be three consecutive positive years for the sector, Liviu Gavrila, Vice President of the Romanian Wind Energy Association (RWEA), said at the Green Energy Conference, organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest.
“2026, 2027 and 2028 will be three consecutive good years for the wind industry. Compared with the photovoltaic sector, we started somewhat slower, both in terms of the complexity of developing, financing and building this type of project,” Gavrila said.
However, the sector is also facing a number of challenges as investment activity accelerates.
“We have challenges, and I would say that some clouds are beginning to gather,” he said, using the weather as a metaphor for the challenges facing the industry.
“In the wind industry, there is usually a problem when the wind blows too strongly. If it exceeds 20 meters per second, turbines enter cut-off mode and effectively stop,” Gavrila said.
Despite these challenges, he stressed that the current investment environment represents an important opportunity for Romania’s energy sector.
“This metaphor about the storm coming is contextual. We are living through a very good moment. Finally, after so many years, there are large projects, important projects. There are projects across all technologies, because we need gas, hydro, nuclear, wind, storage and photovoltaics — absolutely all resources,” he said.
Gavrila called for stronger institutional coordination and greater long-term stability in energy policy, highlighting the role of the Ministry of Energy.
“I would make an appeal regarding two things. From my point of view, we need to empower an institution that we already have, the Ministry of Energy,” he said. “We need a little more coherence and some firmer decision-making elements, together with long-term stability,” Gavrila added.
He stressed that Romania is competing with other regional markets for investment capital, making the predictability of the investment environment particularly important.
“We are in a regional competition. When investors look at projects in Romania, they need to make an investment for a return, for a minimum margin that covers their financing costs and from which, I repeat, the respective profit can provide them with a long-term perspective,” he said.
Gavrila pointed out that wind energy is highly capital-intensive, with large projects requiring investments running into hundreds of millions of euros.
“The wind industry is CAPEX-intensive, meaning we are talking about huge investments. The players are large, and both the capital contribution and operational stability are critical elements because we are talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of euros, and in some cases potentially more than one billion euros for large wind farms,” he said.
According to Gavrila, a broad range of projects and strategic initiatives are already underway, including investments needed to accommodate a larger share of renewable energy in the electricity system.
“On absolutely every front, things are underway. There are even long-term projects that simply need to be allowed to be implemented,” he said.
He pointed to Romania’s energy strategy as providing a framework for grid investment, the integration of growing renewable and storage capacity, and increased electricity interconnection.
“If we look at Romania’s energy strategy as it was developed, it nevertheless has directions that address both the grid and the investments needed to integrate this increased renewable and storage capacity, as well as the interconnections that need to be expanded,” Gavrila said.
Gavrila said the direction set by European institutions and Romania’s own energy strategy is broadly aligned with the investments required but stressed that continuity will be essential.
“All the recommendations of the European Commission and everything addressing these issues at regional or European level — the trends and what we need to do — point in the direction that we are also taking,” he said.
“What is important, once again, is consistency and allowing things to happen. We have started a job; we need to do that job and not stop before taking it to completion,” Gavrila added.
The development of Romania’s wind sector is expected to continue beyond 2030, with the industry targeting between 7 GW and 9 GW of wind capacity by 2030, while also looking towards offshore wind and further grid development.
“These things will be implemented at least until 2030 and beyond 2030 in the wind sector. It is not only about 7 to 9 GW that we hope to have by 2030. We also have the prospect of offshore wind and a whole range of other developments,” Gavrila said.