Romania had EU's 4th highest wholesale power price in 2025 — NRG-IA

In 2025, Romania had the fourth-highest average wholesale electricity price in the European Union, at approximately 110 EUR/MWh , compared to a European average of 85 EUR/MWh , according to the country report published by the European Commission. This conclusion shifts the tone of the energy debate: Romania has resources—hydro, nuclear, gas, renewables, and interconnections—yet the market continues to pay high prices precisely during the hours when the system needs dispatchable capacity, flexibility, and a ready grid. Romania above the EU average for wholesale energy prices The wholesale price is not the consumer's final bill. It represents the price of energy traded on the market before network tariffs, taxes, VAT, contributions, and supply margins. However, the wholesale price matters immensely: it feeds into suppliers' procurement costs, industrial contracts, and the economic signals sent to investors. For households, the impact was mitigated for years by price caps and subsidies. The report, cited by Profit.ro , notes that Romania maintained a price cap and subsidy scheme from November 2021 to June 2025. Its expiration in July 2025, combined with an increase in electricity VAT from 19% to 21% and a summer heatwave, led to household bills more than doubling. Subsequently, household prices stabilized and remained below the EU average, while prices for businesses were slightly above 2024 levels. This distinction between the wholesale price and the final bill must be kept clear. The 110 EUR/MWh figure refers to the wholesale market, not the full bill. Yet, it is precisely the wholesale market that reveals the true health of the system: how much energy costs when public interventions, price caps, and subsidies no longer mask underlying tensions. Gas and fossil fuels drive up prices during critical hours The European Commission links the high price to a persistent reliance on fossil fuel generation. Profit.ro quotes the report stating that while Romania's energy mix has improved, fossil fuels remain "deeply entrenched" in the system and often set the high market price for electricity. In 2025, electricity generated from fossil fuels accounted for 34.1% , while low-carbon energy reached 65.9% , below the EU average of 70%. The mechanism is simple yet crucial. In many hours, the market price is set by the marginal technology needed to meet demand. If gas-fired plants or other more expensive fossil fuel capacities kick in during peak hours, they can drive up the price for the entire market. This is where the Romanian paradox emerges: you can have hydro, nuclear, and solar generation, but still pay high prices when the system ends up needing flexible, immediately available generation. Thus, Romania's problem is not simply how much energy it produces. It is about when it produces, where it produces, how energy flows through the grid, and which source covers consumption during high-demand hours. Solar lowers midday prices, but evenings remain expensive The growth of solar generation helps the market during daylight hours. During sunny intervals, photovoltaic energy can lower prices and reduce the need for fossil fuel plants. However, without sufficient storage and flexible consumption, the relatively cheap midday surplus cannot be efficiently shifted to the evening. This is where the structural challenge lies. Romania does not just have an installed capacity problem, but a synchronization problem. Cheap energy is generated at certain hours, while critical consumption occurs at others. Bridging this gap requires batteries, pumped-storage hydro, demand-side management, aggregators, smart meters, grids, and market rules. When these links are missing or slow to develop, the system reverts to the classic solution: flexible, more expensive fossil fuel capacities that balance the grid during peak hours. This explains why renewable energy can grow while average wholesale prices remain high. 16.2 MW of storage highlights the scale of the delay The European Commission directly highlights the storage issue. Romania has taken some measures to expand the grid and promote battery storage, but implementation remains slow. The electricity storage capacity reported in the National Energy and Climate Plan is only 16.2 MW , while demand response and distributed energy resources are still hindered by market barriers and an insufficient legal framework. This figure explains a lot. In a market discussing thousands of MW of renewables, industrial consumption, prosumers, data centers, and electrification, a reported storage capacity of 16.2 MW indicates a major lag between energy ambitions and the infrastructure needed to integrate them. Storage does not automatically lower prices. It cannot be presented as a silver bullet. However, it can reduce pressure during peak hours if built at scale, if it participates properly in the market, if it has clear rules, and if it connects to the grid where the system needs it most. Without storage,…