Turkey has emerged as a relatively new, strong actor in Romania’s renewable energy sector through recent investments and joint ventures. Turkey’s interest in Romania's energy field is driven not only by economic interests and soft power diplomacy but also by the strong demand for additional energy sources.

Turkey's growing investments in Romania reflect its broader geopolitical interests. Since 2023, Turkish investors have entered the market through acquisitions, joint ventures and new solar projects and began carrying out projects in the same year.

This also reflects the recent strong growth of Romania’s renewables sector. Romania closed 2024 with 5 GW of installed photovoltaic capacity, a significant increase compared to the 3.2 GW recorded in 2023. Undoubtedly, ongoing global and regional upheavals, particularly the Russo-Ukraine war and climate change, pushed Romania to focus more on its national green strategy.

As such, despite some economic and technical difficulties, in 2024 alone, the country added approximately 1.7 GW of solar capacity, bringing the total installed solar power capacity to nearly 5 GW, with the aim to double the volume in 2025. This expansion aligns with Romania’s updated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), which aims to elevate renewable energy's share to 38.3% by 2030 and 44% by 2035, with an increase up to 86.1% by 2050.  

Recently, the Romanian authorities have actively encouraged foreign direct investment (FDI) in renewable energy, and worked to create a favourable environment for foreign companies. 

Among the investors from Turkey, in August 2024, local media reported that energy company Entek had entered the local solar energy market by acquiring Eco Sun Niclești and Euromec-Ciocanari. Entek is a subsidiary of Turkish energy company Türkiye Petrol Rafinerileri A.Ş. (Tüpras), which owns 99.23% of Entek and is Turkey’s largest industrial company and the seventh largest refinery in Europe, producing various types of fuels. 

Since entering the local market, Entek has acquired two Romanian companies that are in the process of obtaining the rights to develop a 214.26 MWdc photovoltaic project at a price of €32.9mn through its investment arm Enspire Enerji for Eco Sun Niculești. This project is of particular importance for Romania in terms of generation of additional green energy and is estimated to be inaugurated in the second half of 2025.

The contracts signed between Turkish companies and the Romanian government in 2023 and 2024 paved the way for surge of investments in 2025, including investments from China, with Chinese companies collaborating with partners from other countries such as Turkey. Although in 2024, Romania managed to attract additional foreign green energy companies from Hungary, Greece and Denmark, it was Turkey and China that appeared to be front runners in terms of investments in the solar power field. 

Romania's photovoltaic panels imported from China make up 20% of the total, and inverters account for 6%. Indeed, as in the case of other Southeast European countries, Chinese investments in Romania have primarily focused on infrastructure and energy projects, including high-speed railways, renewable energy projects, collaborations on nuclear power plants at Cernavodă, and developing conventional power plants at Tarnița and Turceni-Rovinari. 

In recent years China has been partnering with other countries to establish joint ventures for infrastructure projects in European countries, thus attempting to avoid potential criticism from the European Union (EU) regarding the “Chinese debt trap”. In this regard, in November 2024, Chinese Shanghai Electric Power (SEP), in partnership with Turkey-based YEO Technology, earmarked €65.8mn for two solar power plants in Romania of 129 MW in total through its subsidiary Defic Globe. The same company has completed the construction of an 18 MWp capacity project in Caracal, marking the first large-scale Turkish green energy investment in Romania under the Defic Globe brand. 

While Turkish companies have aggressively expanded in Romania’s solar market in the last few years, Chinese investments have been more cautious. China has invested over $100bn in overseas clean energy projects since 2023, but much of this investment has been directed toward markets where Chinese firms seek to bypass trade barriers, such as Germany, Hungary, and Turkey. The earlier data indicates that as of 2023, 18,135 Turkish companies were operating in Romania, with a total subscribed capital value of over €717mn. However, in 2024, Turkish direct investments reached $7.5bn marking a new milestone in Romania’s green energy sector. 

The ongoing energy deficit in Europe and regional security threats make Romania an attractive market for renewable energy investors, while emboldening the country to boost investments in photovoltaic technology and hybrid solar-storage projects. In 2025, foreign investors, including Turkish companies, are expected to bring online between 1,200 MW to 1,500 MW of renewable electricity facilities, aiming to double the country's battery storage capacity to between 400 MWh and 500 MWh, enhancing grid stability and energy security.

Fuad Shahbazov is a policy analyst covering regional security issues in the South Caucasus. He was a research fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies and previously a senior analyst at the Center for Strategic Communications, both in Azerbaijan. He was also a visiting scholar at the Daniel Morgan School of National Security in Washington, DC. He tweets at @fuadshahbazov.