Romania · Owner's Engineer & Development Advisor

Engineering value,
owned from concept
to commercial operation.

PVBrain is the on-the-ground advisory function for international investors in Romanian battery storage. A BESS specialist with wider industry coverage including solar and hydro — bringing sixty-five combined years of critical-infrastructure engineering pedigree onto the investor's side of the EPC contract. We build the technical framework that lets investors specify, govern and control their EPC delivery, so that control-and-command design risk — the most under-priced failure mode in BESS — is held to the investor's standard from day one.

01 — Where we sit

We are not an EPC. We are the investor's engineer.

The most common failure on Romanian renewable projects is not technical — it is misalignment between the investor who carries the lifetime risk and the contractors who optimise only for their scope. PVBrain exists to close that gap. Every deliverable we produce is instrumented for the investor, the lender and the asset manager who will still be holding the project in year fifteen.

Contractor side

EPC & Investment Aggregator

Structured around scope completion, margin on turnkey delivery and recycling equity through transaction velocity. Incentives align with handover — not lifetime performance.

  • Scope-closure mindset
  • Hardware-led commercial bias
  • Relationship ends at PAC / takeover
PVBrain side

Owner's Engineer & Development Advisor

Structured around the investor's asset-life economics — regulatory, grid, commercial, revenue and operational outcomes. We represent the investor to every other party in the project, including the EPC.

  • Acquisitions, development & RTB origination
  • Investor's technical control framework over EPC delivery
  • SCADA, protection and control-system design authority
  • Construction assurance, commissioning and asset management
02 — Credentials at a glance

Twenty years of delivery in Romanian renewable energy and critical infrastructure — quantified.

€0
Government subsidy framework advised
€0
M&A deals completed
0
Romanian RTB pipeline under live analysis
0
Projects delivered as Owner's Engineer
0
Solar & wind assets under live O&M today
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Continents — origin of client capital
03 — What we do

Four capabilities, one accountable interface to the investor.

Our services are sequenced across the asset lifecycle and can be engaged individually or as an integrated programme. The common thread is a single, accountable point of contact answerable to the investor — not a marketplace of subcontractors the investor has to coordinate.

CAP · 01

Acquisitions & M&A advisory

Buy-side and sell-side advisory on Romanian BESS and solar pipelines. Deal sourcing, financial modelling, red-flag DD, SPA structuring, data-room management and transaction execution, run with a specialist local M&A legal bench.

  • RTB / RTF deal origination and screening
  • Technical, commercial and legal due diligence
  • Active sell-side advisory relationships on Romanian assets
  • Grant funding navigation (EU, PNRR, Modernisation Fund)
CAP · 02

Development management

End-to-end development management for greenfield and mid-stage projects, from ATR through CR, AC and capacity auction qualification, to Ready-to-Build. Stage-gate discipline, critical-path ownership and stakeholder coordination with Transelectrica, ANRE, DSOs and local authorities.

  • Grid connection strategy & ATR/CR/AC progression
  • Permitting, EPA consents, MAPN defence clearances
  • Capacity auction preparation (OUG 134/2024 framework)
  • Land, planning and corporate set-up
CAP · 03

Technical control framework over EPC delivery

The single largest under-priced risk in a BESS investment is control-and-command design — SCADA, protection, interlocks, cyber and grid-code compliance. EPCs write these specifications to minimise their own scope; investors inherit the consequences for twenty years. PVBrain brings national-scale industrial-automation pedigree directly to the owner's side of the table, so that the investor specifies and governs their EPC, not the other way round.

  • Employer's Requirements authored to critical-infrastructure SCADA standards
  • Control-and-command design review, FAT/SAT witnessing, cyber posture audit
  • EPC tender evaluation, contract negotiation and claims defence
  • Lender's technical advisor interface & conditions-precedent management
  • Commissioning oversight, punch-list closure and handover to operations
CAP · 04

Asset management & BESS monetisation

Once built, projects enter a dedicated O&M and revenue office. For BESS, we structure the full merchant and contracted revenue stack — DAM, IDM, aFRR, mFRR, capacity, congestion — and run 15-minute-interval market participation through an ANRE-compliant in-house trading platform. Lender reporting and covenant monitoring are handled on the same interface.

  • O&M office outsourcing (solar, wind, BESS)
  • BESS revenue-stack design & optimiser selection
  • ANRE-compliant 15-minute interval market participation
  • Lender reporting, covenant monitoring and asset-manager interface
04 — Why foreign IPPs choose PVBrain

Three differentiators that matter when you're deploying leveraged capital into Romania.

01

We close the handover gaps.

Most renewable-energy advisors specialise in a single stage. Deal teams hand off to construction teams who hand off to operators — and value leaks at every handover. EPC decisions made without operational input. Operations ramped without trader input. Acquisitions closed on yield assumptions that break in the first merchant quarter.

We run deal, build, and operate under one accountability. One team. One investment thesis. Carried through.

02

We model with live market data — not forecasts.

Every other financial model in the Romanian market uses a single merchant price curve from a consultant. Ours pulls from up to three trading platforms in live Romanian operation today. When we tell you a project pencils at your return threshold, we have pressure-tested it against three independent desks — not one assumption.

For a leveraged buyer with equity investors watching IRR, this is the difference between a model that survives contact with the market and one that doesn't.

03

We leave behind a team, not a dependency.

We are explicitly not trying to become your in-country permanent headcount. Our engagement model is designed to hand back — we run year one, train your team, and embed the operating model in your processes.

You emerge with a local capability you own, built on the foundation of a proven operating year.

05 — Portfolio & heritage

The engineering pedigree behind the investor's control framework.

PVBrain's technical bench carries design and engineering credentials across four disciplines — not as EPC contractor, but as the specifying and controls engineer on the owner's side. This is the pedigree we now deploy on BESS investments: the discipline of authoring and assuring control-and-command systems inside live, grid-critical, nationally regulated assets where the consequences of getting the design wrong are measured in trips, blackouts and regulatory action.

Battery energy storage

Grid-scale BESS owner's engineering and commissioning support on Romania's most visible storage projects.

The current pipeline centres on three flagship BESS engagements totalling 540 MWh of installed storage capacity: two full owner's-engineering mandates (RTB through commissioning) on the co-located Dumbrava 1 and Dumbrava 2 sister projects for MetaWealth in Neamț County, and a commissioning-support mandate on one of Romania's largest battery-storage projects at Florești, Cluj. This is where the bench's national-scale SCADA and control-system pedigree meets live battery deployment.

Utility & commercial solar

Sixty-plus solar projects engineered, from commercial rooftop to utility-scale.

Concentrated solar engineering spanning every scale the Romanian market produces — from residential systems and commercial rooftops for institutional logistics and retail portfolios, to industrial-estate installations, floating PV studies, municipal lighting programmes and utility-scale ground-mounted parks. Peak engineering references cover utility parks up to 34 MW, commercial-rooftop portfolios up to 4 MW per site, and a PNRR-funded commercial-rooftop programme delivered across multiple sectors including logistics, food & beverage, retail and agri-industrial. More recent cycles add utility-scale solar engineering for institutional owners spanning multiple counties with a combined installed base of ~60 MWp under design or review. Specific client and site references available under NDA.

Utility-scale PV parks Institutional logistics-portfolio rooftops Institutional retail-portfolio rooftops Industrial-estate PV systems PNRR commercial-rooftop programme Floating PV feasibility Institutional multi-county utility solar
Gas transmission & industrial SCADA

National-scale SCADA, automation and cyber engineering for the Transgaz transmission system.

Five years as designer and engineering authority inside Romania's natural-gas transmission backbone, across three successive roles at S.N.T.G.N. Transgaz S.A. (Head of SCADA Infrastructure Service, Deputy Director and then Director of Automation, Energy Management & SCADA Department). Named contributions on the BRUA Bulgaria–Romania–Hungary–Austria corridor Technical Project (Lot 4 — Automation and Pipeline Security); the Iași–Ungheni pipeline automation programme and the SNT North-East Romania feasibility study for transport capacity toward the Republic of Moldova; SCADA integration across multiple technological nodes and gas-metering stations including Podișorul, Medieșul Aurit, SMG Isaccea, SMG Ungheni and SMG Giurgiu; and automation design on the Horia (Arad), Turnu Sud and Onești (Bacău) compression and measurement installations. More recent work extends into fifteen county-level gas distribution concessions covering approximately 2,600 km of network and ~90,000 consumers. These are critical-infrastructure cybersecurity and control-system credentials that almost no renewable-project team in Romania can match — precisely the skillset a BESS investor needs on their side of the EPC contract.

BRUA corridor — Lot 4 (Technical Project) Iași–Ungheni pipeline automation SNT NE Romania → Moldova feasibility SMG Isaccea — SCADA integration SMG Ungheni — SCADA integration SMG Giurgiu retechnologisation NT Podișorul automation NT Medieșul Aurit automation Horia (Arad) gas metering Turnu Sud gas compression Onești (Bacău) turbo-compressor station 15-county gas distribution programme
Hydropower heritage

Designing automation, protection and SCADA inside Romania's hydropower fleet.

The bench was forged as the design authority on Romania's largest hydropower assets. Feasibility studies and Technical Projects for the telecommunications systems and dispatch-room architecture of the Argeș, Sebeș, Râmnicu Vâlcea and Buzău hydropower developments, and supervision of Automation, Telecoms and Control projects across the Danube hydropower fleet. This is where the discipline of authoring control-and-command specifications for live, grid-critical generation — where every signal routes to the national dispatcher — was established. All references documented in written recommendations from the original engineering-authority employer.

Argeș hydropower development Sebeș hydropower development Râmnicu Vâlcea hydropower development Buzău hydropower development Danube hydropower fleet — supervision Gogoșu — supervision
06 — Leadership

The best people. Always accountable. Delivery every time.

PVBrain operates with a senior bench and a single standard: every engagement is run by named, specialist leads who have stood behind their work in writing throughout their careers. We take on mandates we know we will deliver, and we stay personally accountable for the outcome from scoping through handover. No anonymous layers, no shifting of responsibility, no dilution of standards once the contract is signed.

GN

George N

Founder

Twenty-plus years in energy infrastructure, BESS advisory and large-scale programme delivery. Former Technical Director on the £2.1B UK BDUK programme at KPMG — later scaled to £5B. MBA (Sheffield), BSc Automation Control (Politehnica Bucharest). Frequent expert-network consultant on BESS integration, optimiser selection and CEE market entry.

george@pvbrain.co.uk
AD

Adrian D

Technology Director

Career-long industrial automation, SCADA and critical-infrastructure control systems specialist. Design authority on national-scale automation and protection programmes spanning hydropower, gas transmission and renewable generation. Leads PVBrain's technical specifications, control-and-command architecture review and EPC oversight on every BESS mandate.

adrian@pvbrain.co.uk
RR

Răzvan R

Asset Management Director

Twenty-plus years in Romanian energy markets, O&M and trading systems. Runs the PVBrain asset-management practice covering operational solar, wind and storage portfolios, 15-minute-interval market participation, and EUR 10M+ of EU grant funding secured for clients since 2020.

razvan@pvbrain.co.uk
CS

Călin S

O&M Expert · SPE Author

Operations and maintenance specialist with deep field experience across utility-scale solar and battery storage. Author of industry SPE specifications covering commissioning, punch-list management and operational handover. Leads PVBrain's commissioning, FAC/PAC closure and operational readiness reviews.

calin@pvbrain.co.uk
JF

Jonathan F

Finance Associate

UK-based BESS financial modeller with direct UK-market experience building project-finance models, lender packs and revenue-stack sensitivities for utility-scale battery storage. Leads PVBrain's financial modelling, bankability analysis and lender reporting, bringing institutional UK-market rigour to the Romanian investment case.

finance@pvbrain.co.uk
CM

Cosmin M

Legal Counsel

One of Romania's most awarded M&A lawyers. Commercial Law Firm of the Year 2019–2024, Chambers and Partners / Legal500 ranked practitioner, former chair of East Legal Team (CEE boutique law firm association, 2010–2018). Leads transaction structuring, SPA negotiation and intra-group mergers on every PVBrain buy-side mandate.

legal@pvbrain.co.uk
07 — Platform, tools & methodology

A unified technology and methodology stack — from plant-level telemetry through to trading desk and investor reporting.

Energy trading & grid compliance

Webus for Energy

The only ANRE-compliant trading platform in Romania — developed by our Asset Management Director and used under licencing agreement by PVBrain. OPCOM DAM/IDM integration, BRP obligations, 15-minute interval trading and automated dispatch.

O&M methodology & governance

SolarNotions OS

Structured best-practice framework aligned with SPE O&M Best Practices v6.0 and IEC 61724-1. Asset hierarchy, work-order taxonomy, KPI definitions, and audit-grade reporting templates.

Performance & analytics

SynaptiQ APM

CMMS / APM analytics layer. Plant-level performance-ratio calculation, alarm taxonomy, availability tracking, and IEC 61724-1 aligned reporting.

24/7 monitoring & response

Joint Ops Centre

Joint O&M Operations Centre model — operational today across twenty-two solar and wind sites in Romania in partnership with a major EU energy producer.

08 — Selected references

Named projects from the combined bench.

2026 — Romania · BESS
Dumbrava 1 — Full Owner's Engineer
100 MWh — full owner's engineering scope from RTB through commissioning for a grid-scale battery storage project.
2026 — Romania · BESS
Dumbrava 2 — Full Owner's Engineer
40 MWh — full owner's engineering scope on the co-located sister project at the same site.
2026 — Cluj, Romania · BESS
Florești, Cluj — Commissioning Support
400 MWh — commissioning support mandate on one of Romania's largest battery storage projects.
2023 — Romania
22-site solar & wind O&M platform
Joint O&M operations centre for a major infrastructure investor. ANRE-compliant 15-minute interval market participation across the combined portfolio.
2024 — Romania
BESS EU grant funding
€50,000 / MWh EU grant secured for a Romanian battery storage project through end-to-end application management.
2023 — United Kingdom
BDUK regional grant award
£43M grant funding secured on behalf of a UK infrastructure provider through full bid and compliance management.
2024 — Romania
Institutional utility-solar portfolio
~60 MWp combined — engineering across multiple counties for institutional owners. Named references available under NDA.
2017 — Romania
BRUA Technical Project — Lot 4
Automation and pipeline-security design authority on the Bulgaria–Romania–Hungary–Austria corridor for S.N.T.G.N. Transgaz S.A. Named reference.
2015–2017 — Romania
Iași–Ungheni & Transgaz SCADA integration
SCADA integration for the Iași–Ungheni pipeline and gas-metering stations including SMG Isaccea, SMG Ungheni and SMG Giurgiu. Named reference.
2004–2008 — Romania
Hydropower telecommunications & dispatch
Feasibility studies and Technical Projects for telecommunications systems and dispatch-room architecture across four major hydropower developments. Named reference.
2024–2025 — Romania
15-county gas distribution programme
~2,600 km of network, ~90,000 consumers across Alba, Argeș, Brăila, Buzău, Călărași, Constanța, Galați, Giurgiu, Gorj, Olt, Sălaj, Sibiu, Teleorman, Vâlcea and Vrancea.
2011–2013 — UK
BDUK £2.1B broadband framework
Technical Director role on the UK's flagship government-subsidised infrastructure programme, later scaled to £5B. Specification, evaluation criteria, financial modelling.
09 — Engage

Considering a Romanian BESS? Build the investor's control framework before you sign the EPC.

A mispriced ATR, a weak control-and-command specification or an EPC contract that protects only the contractor's scope will cost the investor far more than a two-hour call with PVBrain. Reach out directly — to whichever of us the conversation calls for.