Good practice:

Photovoltaic systems in the South-West Oltenia Region

The good practice aims to support the use of renewable energy in the housing sector. This includes the acquisition and installation of photovoltaic system panels, in order to produce electricity. The project is developed and implemented by the Environmental Administration Fund, targeting 2662 beneficiaries (households from urban and rural areas) from the South-West Oltenia region. The beneficiaries can acces a grant up to 4000 eur in order to purchase and install from the free market photovoltaics for covering their own consumption needs and deliver the surplus in the electricity distribution network, by becoming a prosumer. The photovoltaic system panels can be mounted on the roof, terraces or directly on the ground with a total installed power of at least 3kWp. This will allow a household to produce around 2400 kWh electricity per year, and thus obtaining an estimated reduction of approximately 512 kg of CO2 emissions.

The total value of the Photovoltaic Systems project is 13,511,243.03 euro, of which the requested amount is 12,855,357.45 euro), equivalent to 98% of the total eligible value, a percentage that represents the average intensity of the intervention corresponding to all activities / sub-activities.

At this moment, 1700 out of 2662 systems were installed and put into operation. All verified systems consisted of 9 photovoltaic panels, power inverter, smart meter and electrical panel. Also, the beneficiaries installed bidirectional electricity meters by the distribution operator, the systems producing and delivering in the national energy system of electricity.

Not all contracts with the beneficiaries were signed, assumed by the funding application (1978 out of 2662 were signed), which meant the resumption of the selection session.

Given that this is an initiative that has been replicated in all development regions of Romania, we appreciate that the project has the potential to learn and transfer the results by applying a recipe already confirmed in real practice. Thus, so far, 1700 photovoltaic systems have been installed and put into operation in the South-West Oltenia Region, out of an estimated total number of 2662, which have contributed to the increase of the number of renewable energy production capacities. The applied model targets both the indirect beneficiaries represented by the communities in the regions where the projects are implemented, by improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the entities that manage and use the current electricity distribution infrastructure, by providing electricity produced from renewable energy sources.