Korkia secures grid connection rights for 268 MW Iron Gates hybrid portfolio in Romania

Korkia has reached another major development milestone in its Romanian renewable energy portfolio, securing grid connection permits (Avize Tehnice de Racordare, ATRs) for the Iron Gates hybrid portfolio.

The ATRs were issued for the Iron Gates projects in May 2026 by Transelectrica, the transmission system operator. Located in Caraș-Severin County in southwestern Romania, the portfolio consists of two hybrid projects with a combined solar PV generation capacity of 268 MW and a total battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity of 250 MW.

Hybrid projects such as these play an increasingly important role in Romania’s energy transition by supporting grid flexibility, improving the utilisation of network infrastructure and enabling the integration of larger volumes of renewable generation.

Under Romanian grid connection regulations, an ATR is a critical step in the development process, confirming the technical and economic conditions for connecting a project to the electricity network. The permits provide a defined pathway to grid connection and establish the framework under which projects can export electricity to, and import it from, the grid.

Securing connection rights ahead of Romania’s grid reform

The issuance of ATRs for the Iron Gates portfolio comes at a particularly significant time for Romania’s renewable energy sector. As the market continues to mature and competition for available grid capacity increases, new measures are being introduced aimed at ensuring the efficient allocation and utilisation of network infrastructure. These include additional financial guarantee requirements, stricter implementation obligations and changes to the framework governing access to grid capacity, with the regulator shifting to a competitive auction-based mechanism.

Against this backdrop, securing ATRs represents an important de-risking milestone for the portfolio. The permits secure the projects’ approved connection pathway under the existing regulatory framework. This provides significant protection against development risk for Korkia’s portfolio, strengthening the projects’ route to Ready-to-Build (RTB) status in 2027.

“Romania remains one of the most attractive renewable energy markets in Central and Eastern Europe, but the market is becoming increasingly sophisticated and competitive. Grid access, project maturity and execution capability are now more important than ever. As Romania continues to modernise its grid connection framework and introduce stricter requirements for developers, high-quality projects with advanced permitting status can stand out from the large pipeline of speculative applications.”

 – Michael Roussos, Country Manager for Romania at Korkia

“Securing connection rights for the Iron Gates portfolio provides the projects with a clear connection pathway, and further strengthens Korkia’s growing Romanian development platform through our partnership with Econous Green Energy.”

With ATRs now secured for both the Alexandria and Iron Gates portfolios, Korkia has advanced nearly 600 MW of solar PV and over 550 MW of co-located battery storage capacity to mature stages of development across its Romanian platform.

Korkia’s global mature development pipeline of 15 GW

Korkia’s global renewable energy portfolio spans multiple technologies and markets across eight countries. By combining local development expertise with Korkia’s global platform, these partnerships aim to bring high-quality renewable energy assets to the market, supporting the decarbonisation of Europe’s power system.

Korkia’s renewable energy portfolio currently comprises 15 GW of mature and 9 GW of early-stage utility-scale solar, wind, and energy storage (BESS) development assets in Europe, North and South America.

In 2026 alone, Korkia has achieved multiple development milestones across its global portfolio and exited two fully-permitted solar PV projects and a 10.7 MW portfolio of solar PV assets in northern Italy.

Additional information

Michael Roussos
Country Manager, Greece & Romania
+44 7713 632 913
michael.roussos@korkia.co.uk

The information presented reflects the situation at the time of presentation and is subject to change. Market and other conditions may change, which may affect the content of the information provided.