SeeNext launches new Southeast Europe renewable energy analysis at C-level business event

SeeNext, in cooperation with SeeNews and Renewables Now, hosted a an executive C-level business breakfast titled “Storing the future: What’s next for renewable energy in Southeast Europe”, bringing together 100+ senior executives and industry experts to discuss the next phase of the region’s energy transition.

The event marked the official launch of SeeNext’s latest analysis, “Renewable energy in Southeast Europe: Flexibility as the new capacity”, which examines renewable energy developments in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia in 2025.

The report finds that renewable capacity across Southeast Europe continued to grow strongly in 2025, led by Greece, which maintained a clear lead with more than 21 GW of installed capacity after adding 2.8 GW during the year. Romania followed with 16.5 GW total capacity and 2.4 GW of new installations, while Bulgaria ranked third with just over 9 GW and 1.42 GW added in 2025. Croatia and Serbia recorded smaller fleets of approximately 5 GW and 4.3 GW, respectively.

Solar dominated renewable growth across the region, accounting for nearly all new capacity in four of the five markets. Greece and Romania led additions with 2.5 GW and 2.3 GW, respectively, followed by Bulgaria with 1.4 GW, while Croatia added 389 MW. Serbia was the only exception, with wind leading new capacity additions.

As solar capacity expands rapidly, the report highlights emerging signs of midday market saturation across several markets, bringing energy storage to the forefront of the energy transition.

Bulgaria led growth in battery storage in 2025, installing around 2.5 GWh of new grid-connected capacity. At the same time, project pipelines across Southeast Europe point to strong future growth, supported by ongoing regulatory developments and planned large-scale projects across the region.

The analysis emphasises that storage alone cannot address the challenges associated with rapid renewable expansion. Grid infrastructure remains a critical bottleneck, with transmission system operators across the region announcing significant investment plans for the coming decade. The report concludes that storage systems and stronger grids will be essential to manage variability, reduce curtailment and sustain future investment.

The region’s energy transition is entering a more complex phase where generation, storage and networks must evolve together, Seenext said in the report.

During his keynote address, Svetlin Pislenski, Associate Director and Senior Banker at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), outlined four key priorities for the sector: investment in grids, digitalisation and interconnection; targeted support mechanisms such as contracts for difference (CfDs); development of long-duration storage, including pumped hydro; and predictable regulation to reduce investor uncertainty.

“These are the levers that will enable Southeast Europe to move from incremental progress to a system-wide transformation,” Pislenski said.

Nikola Gazdov, Chairman at APSTE, highlighted that Bulgaria’s rapid growth in battery storage has been driven by streamlined permitting procedures which cut red tape before it emerged and enabled the rapid development of a large project pipeline. This was combined with strong market signals from abundant low-cost solar generation and financial support under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

The event also featured two high-level panel discussions bringing together leading industry experts.

The first panel, “Technology in Action – Building Capacity at Scale”, was moderated by Mariyana Yaneva, Chief Operating Officer at IPS, and included Dimitar Kirchev, Country Manager at Sungrow Bulgaria; Alexander Stoyanov, Head of Smart Infrastructure at Siemens Bulgaria; and Eng. Yordan Stankov, Chief Executive Officer at DMT Prime. The discussion focused on the practical challenges and solutions for scaling renewable and storage capacity across the region.

The second panel, “Commercial Realities – PPAs, Revenue Models and Project Risk”, was moderated by Severin Vartigov, Chief Commercial Officer and Country Manager at ENERY. Panelists included Dimitar Dimitrov, Director of Business Development at REIB; Pavel Kitov, Director of Business Development at KER TOKI POWER EAD; and Radoslav Mikov, Partner at Wolf Theiss. The session explored evolving power purchase agreement (PPA) structures, revenue models and risk management strategies in a rapidly changing market environment.

Download the full analysis “Renewable energy in Southeast Europe: Flexibility as the new capacity” free of charge here.

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SeeNext helps the decision-makers of today navigate the volatile business world by delivering trustworthy and unbiased news and actionable insights. As a company with 20+ years of experience and a team of experts in the realms of business news and analyses, we strive to give in-depth understanding and relevant interpretation of data.