Aukera, the pan-European battery energy storage and renewable energy platform backed by AtlasInvest, Reggeborgh and Belgium’s sovereign wealth fund, announced the signing of a EUR 48.5 million financing agreement with the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, for the second phase of the Gura Ialomi\u021bei Battery Energy Storage System in Romania.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The financing package includes EUR 40 million in CapEx financing and an additional EUR 8.5 million VAT tranche. The funds will support the construction of the remaining 100 MW \/ 200 MWh capacity, completing Aukera’s flagship 250 MW \/ 500 MWh Gura Ialomi\u021bei project, which will become the largest operational battery energy storage facility in Romania and one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n
The financing builds on the successful execution of Phase 1 \u2013 150 MW \/ 300 MWh, which secured a EUR 60 million credit facility from Kommunalkredit Austria AG in November 2025 and was completed in June 2026.<\/p>\n
The second phase is expected to enter commercial operation at the beginning of 2027.<\/p>\n
The BEES project comes as renewable energy generation continues to expand in Romania, creating the need for large-scale battery storage. BEES projects provide greater flexibility for Romania\u2019s national energy grid, storing energy when it is abundant and sending it to the grid when demand is higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once completed, the Gura Ialomi\u021bei BESS will support a more resilient power system while enabling greater integration of renewable energy into Romania’s electricity grid.<\/p>\n
“As co-founder of a platform now active in five European countries, attracting international capital of this scale to Romania is particularly significant. The Gura Ialomi\u021bei BESS has so far secured more than EUR 100 million in debt financing and is only the first of our Romanian projects in what will be a substantial portfolio,\u201d said C\u0103t\u0103lin Breaban, Aukera Co-Founder.<\/p>\n
The transaction’s principal advisers were: Clifford Chance Badea (Aukera’s legal adviser), Dentons (lenders’ legal adviser), RINA Consulting (lenders’ technical adviser), PwC (financial model audit and tax), Aurora Energy Research (market adviser), and Marsh (lenders’ insurance adviser).<\/p>\n
Aukera is a pan-European renewable energy platform focused on BESS, headquartered in Brussels. Co-founded in 2021 by Pascal Emsens and C\u0103t\u0103lin Breaban, Aukera develops, finances, builds and operates renewable energy and battery storage infrastructure across five European markets, with more than 810 MW currently under construction or in operation and a project portfolio exceeding 14 GW.\u00a0<\/p>\n