Bankable, connection-ready, and built to last: Enexus and LONGi share their formula for solar success
Romania’s solar sector is entering a decisive phase, balancing immense potential with persistent grid and permitting challenges. In this exclusive Romania Insider interview, Alina Ștefan, Chief Commercial Officer at Enexus, and Mirel…
Romania Insider
· Updated · 9 min read
Romania’s solar sector is entering a decisive phase, balancing immense potential with persistent grid and permitting challenges. In this exclusive Romania Insider interview, Alina Ștefan, Chief Commercial Officer at Enexus, and Mirel Jarnea, Country Manager of LONGi România, discuss how their partnership is redefining solar investment and execution in one of Europe’s fastest-growing renewable markets.
The two executives emphasize that Romania’s fundamentals, defined by competitive energy production costs, EU funding, and rising industrial demand, make it “too attractive to ignore,” even amid regulatory hurdles.
Their collaboration, they explain, goes beyond the usual supplier-contractor model: “It’s more than just about supplying panels or building projects – it’s about delivering reliable, connection-ready assets investors can trust for 20–30 years.”
The two partners’ technology-to-bankability approach, proven in milestone hybrid projects like the one they implemented in Gorj county, is shaping a new benchmark for speed, reliability, and investor returns. With Enexus targeting 600 MW in 2025 and LONGi expanding its integrated PV, storage, and hydrogen strategy, both companies see Romania as a regional launchpad for scalable, sustainable clean-energy solutions.
“The challenges raise the bar, but they ultimately reward those with superior technology and reliable local expertise,” Jarnea concludes.
Read the complete interview below:
Romania has ambitious clean energy targets, but grid bottlenecks and permitting delays often slow down projects. What is more important from an investor’s perspective – the market’s potential or the hurdles?
Alina Ștefan, Enexus: Investors ultimately weigh both, but potential outweighs hurdles if they see credible partners who can navigate them. Romania’s fundamentals—competitive LCOE, EU funding, industrial demand—make the market too attractive to ignore. Delays are real, but solvable with the right local execution and clear project structuring. That’s where we step in to turn potential into bankable, grid-ready projects.
Mirel Jarnea, LONGi: Potential is the magnet: Romania’s ambitious targets are a powerful attractor for capital. However, the ability to navigate the hurdles is the true measure of a project’s bankability and profitability. Hurdles demand smarter investment, necessitating the highest-efficiency technology, like LONGi modules, to maximize yield despite grid bottlenecks. When paired with Enexus's proven execution speed, this synergy ensures a faster time-to-revenue. The challenges raise the bar, but they ultimately reward those with superior technology and reliable local expertise.
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You emphasize “faster returns for investors.” Can you walk us through, in concrete terms, how your technology and execution model translate into better ROI compared to rival solutions in Romania?
Alina Ștefan: I’ll start from ingredients to connection. Exceptional quality panels, like those we have from LONGi, capture more energy compared to average-quality modules, especially in low-light conditions; together with all the other top tier elements and components that we use in our projects, they increase the overall efficiency of our projects by up to 10%, have longer life spans, guarantee better service and replacement.
Swift EPC execution from Enexus means quicker grid connection and earlier cash flow. Integrated O&M ensures stable performance and minimal downtime. Not least, bundling storage – BESS - improves grid stability and allows projects to sell when prices peak.
Together, these factors shorten payback periods and increase long-term profitability.
Mirel Jarnea: We concretely improve ROI by optimizing the Levelized Cost of Electricity - LCOE - through technological superiority. Our advanced modules ensure higher energy density, which reduces Balance of System – BOS - costs like fewer trackers, cables, and less land area needed. Crucially, our technology maintains superior energy yield in low-light and high-temperature conditions, guaranteeing maximum lifetime kWh generation. This intrinsic LCOE advantage, paired with Enexus's execution speed to ensure the fastest grid-connection and cash flow, delivers an industry-leading bankability profile and ROI.
The 20.4 MW hybrid solar + storage project in Gorj was presented as a milestone. What lessons from that project are shaping your next wave of developments?
Alina Ștefan: Gorj proved that Romania is ready for hybrid projects. There are three important lessons: technically – integration of storage must be planned from day one, not added later; strategically – investors gained confidence that Romania can deliver complex projects at international standards; and relationally – success depends on choosing trusted partners who deliver on time and at quality, because in this business execution builds credibility. We are applying these learnings to scale hybrid solutions across 2025 and the future.
Mirel Jarnea: The Gorj hybrid project confirmed the critical bankability of integrated PV-storage solutions in the volatile Romanian market, a lesson now scaling all future developments. Our key takeaway is that coupling high-efficiency modules (like the Hi-MO 7) with BESS is vital for grid resilience and peak-price revenue capture, offering a hedge against grid unpredictability. This success has directly led to a massive 300 MW module supply deal, reinforcing our strategy with Enexus to prioritize large-scale, connection-ready hybrid projects across diverse Romanian regions for superior yield reliability.
How do you see the Romanian solar market evolving in the next five years, especially in terms of investor appetite, regulation, and competition?
Alina Ștefan: Appetite will remain strong. Romania must almost double solar capacity by 2030 to meet EU targets. It is a good momentum that will keep our country attractive for another 3-5 years. Regulation is gradually improving, but the real shift will come from grid upgrades and digitalization. I expect competition to intensify, but partnerships between global tech providers and agile local players with integrative models, like Enexus, have the potential to dominate. Those who can combine speed, compliance, and quality will win.
Mirel Jarnea: Romania’s investment appeal remains solid due to the EU's 2030 solar targets, driving sustained momentum for new projects. The regulatory environment is evolving positively, particularly with the push for mandatory BESS integration and CfD auctions promoting bankable assets. Grid upgrades are critical, and our focus is providing high-efficiency technology like Hi-MO 7 and Hi-MO 9 modules, which maximize output and reduce strain. Success hinges on strategic alliances—our partnership with agile, integrated EPCs like Enexus ensures the winning formula of speed, quality, and compliance in project delivery.
Alina Stefan
Enexus grew tenfold in 2024 and now aims to reach 600 MW in 2025. What has fueled this growth, and what are some of the most important projects in your local portfolio?
Alina Ștefan: Sure, these are record results for us, and they confirm that our integrated EPC model and investor orientation bring concrete results.
We are a company created in 2021 in Romania and during these years, growth came from three drivers: trust from Turkish and most recently international investors, speed of execution, and a clear focus on mid-size bankable projects - 5 to 150 MW. In 2024 we delivered five projects and contracted over 250 MW, including landmark developments in Gorj and Dâmbovița. Last year was also an important year for consolidating our team, beginning building a more resilient company governance and delivering on our most important promise: faster ROI for investors, from sustainable assets.
2025 will scale that momentum, with over 350 MW in pipeline and projects across multiple regions, many of them from investors that are placing their capital with Enexus, for the second or third time.
Your model positions you as both EPC and investment enabler. How do you balance investor expectations for quick returns with the realities of long-term infrastructure development?
Alina Ștefan: By aligning timelines and expectations early. First, we explain clearly the country landscape and particularities. Romania has an attractive mix of strategic location, skilled technical workforce, rising demand from industrial consumers for renewable energy investment, competitive solar LCOE, access to substantial EU funds, and a growing inflow of international capital. Investors we work with are not looking for quick wins, but well-thought-out projects, undertaken in the medium and long term and we are the solution for them.
And then, we explain how each stage: permits, financing, and construction impacts ROI. Afterwards we accelerate what we control: execution speed, procurement quality, grid connection. Investors see early milestones, such as faster commissioning, which builds confidence for the long-term horizon. It’s about combining short-term wins with sustainable asset value.
You’ve mentioned expansion into Turkey, Italy, and Ukraine. How does the Romanian experience help in shaping your strategy in other emerging markets?
Alina Ștefan: Managing projects across borders demands a dual perspective. Technically, you must maintain the highest engineering, compliance, and safety standards. Culturally, you must adapt to local business environments, understand regulatory nuances, and respect the ways in which partnerships are built in each country.
Romania taught us how to combine global standards with local realities. Every emerging market has bottlenecks—permitting in Turkey, grid resilience in Ukraine, regulatory complexity in Italy. What we bring from Romania is a playbook: engage early with investors, structure projects around realistic timeframes, and focus on bankability. That experience is transferable, and it’s what makes the company so effective in the Black Sea region.
Mirel Jarnea
LONGi highlights its Hi-MO 7 modules as having superior bifaciality and power temperature coefficients. How do these technical advantages play out in Romania’s climate and grid conditions compared to cheaper alternatives?
Mirel Jarnea: The superior bifaciality of our Hi-MO 7 modules is a major performance driver in Romania. By efficiently capturing sunlight reflected off the ground (albedo effect), especially in dusty or snow-covered areas, the modules achieve a substantial boost in overall energy yield compared to standard monofacial or lower-quality bifacial panels. Crucially, the excellent power temperature coefficient is engineered to combat efficiency losses during Romania’s hot summer peaks. When panel temperature rises, a cheaper alternative rapidly loses power; however, the Hi-MO 7's advanced cell technology minimizes this degradation. This translates directly to a lower Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for investors, maximizing their returns and ensuring a more stable, predictable power output that is essential for seamless grid integration in the dynamic local market.
How important is it for a company like LONGi to be transparent about traceability, bankability and financial results data, and what can LONGi provide to its customers in this regard?
Mirel Jarnea: Transparency is central to LONGi’s philosophy and one of the reasons we’re trusted as the most bankable solar technology partner worldwide. For us, being open about traceability, bankability, and financial performance is not just about compliance — it’s about confidence.
We share this information very openly — from third-party bankability reports to our financial performance — because we know how important it is, especially now that banks and investors are looking more closely at supplier reliability.
LONGi has consistently achieved top rankings across all major indicators — from Altman-Z scores to third party bankability ratings — and we communicate these results proactively through regular updates, industry reports, and direct customer engagement. By providing this level of clarity and proof, we help de-risk projects for our partners and contribute to a healthier, more sustainable solar industry overall.
LONGi is also active in hydrogen and broader energy solutions. Do you see synergies between your solar module business and potential future hydrogen projects in Romania or the wider region?
Mirel Jarnea: We see profound synergies between our solar module business and the burgeoning green hydrogen sector in Romania. Our core mission, "Solar for Solar," directly links both. For green hydrogen production, which is a national priority here, supported by NRRP funding, you need vast amounts of affordable, reliable renewable power to fuel the electrolyzers. Our high-efficiency modules are the ideal, low-LCOE power source for these dedicated hydrogen plants. By integrating our solar technology with our own hydrogen equipment and solutions business unit, we offer a complete, optimized, and bankable "solar-to-hydrogen" package. This comprehensive approach is essential for large-scale energy projects that stabilize the grid and serve hard-to-decarbonize industrial and transport sectors across Romania and Southeastern Europe.
Beyond our established solar technologies, LONGi is strategically moving into Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS); expect market updates shortly. Our integrated PV + Storage + Hydrogen offering embodies the next phase of innovation, delivering smarter, cleaner, and more flexible energy solutions. This reflects our long-term vision to be a complete clean energy solution provider committed to global decarbonisation and net-zero targets.
*This interview was edited by Romania Insider for Enexus.
