Electricity prices in Romania
What a household in Romania pays for electricity, where the power comes from, and how the country differs from its neighbours.
Most of the electricity generated in Romania comes from sources that burn no fossil fuel: hydropower from the Danube and the Carpathians, the two CANDU reactors at Cernavodă and a growing fleet of wind turbines in Dobrogea. For households, though, the big story of recent years has been political. The price cap that shielded them through the energy crisis ended in mid-2025, and bills now follow the market.
Wholesale power is traded on OPCOM, the Romanian exchange, and the whole country is one bidding zone. Through the European market coupling, the day-ahead price is set together with Hungary, Bulgaria and the rest of the EU, which is why a dry summer on the Danube or a gas spike in central Europe shows up quickly in Romanian prices.
Rate: ECB 22/10/2026
The exchange's hourly prices in Romania may not be freely republished, so this page does not show them. The household prices here are Eurostat's official figures, updated every six months.
Where does the electricity in Romania come from?
Gross electricity generation in 2024 by energy source. Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_peh).
Household price since 2023
Average price per kWh, all-in, for a household using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year. Source: Eurostat (nrg_pc_204).
A household in Romania using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year paid 1.46 lei/kWh on average, all-in, in H1 2026, 52% more than a year before (Eurostat).
Eurostat's figure for each half-year, with taxes, levies, network costs and VAT. Updated twice a year.
How the electricity price works in Romania
OPCOM, ANRE and the end of the cap
The day-ahead auction on OPCOM has been coupled with Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic since 2014 and with the wider European coupling since 2021. The energy regulator, ANRE, sets network tariffs and supervises suppliers, while Transelectrica runs the high-voltage grid. During the crisis an emergency ordinance capped what households paid per kWh, and the state compensated suppliers for the difference.
That scheme expired in mid-2025. Since July, households pay the price in their supply contract, which they are free to choose. The change was abrupt for many families, because the cap had been in force for around three years; the household price that Eurostat records for Romania rose accordingly, and the chart on this page shows the step.
Green certificates, cogeneration and network tariffs
A Romanian household bill lists far more than the price of energy. Transmission and distribution tariffs, approved by ANRE, differ between distribution areas, so the same contract does not cost the same everywhere. On top come green certificates, which pay for older renewable plants, a contribution for high-efficiency cogeneration, the excise duty on electricity and finally VAT. Because several of these items are fixed per kWh, the part of the bill that actually moves with the wholesale market is smaller than it looks.
Water, gas and the evening gap
Hydro is the swing factor. In wet years the Danube and the mountain reservoirs deliver plenty of cheap power; in dry years, such as 2022, output falls and gas plants or imports fill the gap. Gas matters twice over: Romania burns it in its own power stations, and it often sets the price in neighbouring markets.
Solar, in parks and on the roofs of a fast-growing number of prosumers, now pushes prices down in the middle of the day. The tightest hours have therefore moved to the evening, when the sun has gone and the country often draws on imports.
Iron Gates, Cernavodă and Oltenia lignite
Hydropower is the largest single source. Porțile de Fier I, the Iron Gates dam on the Danube built jointly with Serbia, is the country's biggest hydro plant, and Hidroelectrica runs long chains of dams on rivers such as the Olt and the Argeș. Nuclear comes next: the two CANDU reactors at Cernavodă, on the Danube–Black Sea Canal, run steadily all year, and two further units are planned. Gas and lignite, the latter mined and burned in Oltenia in the south-west, supply most of the remaining thermal power, while wind is concentrated in Dobrogea and solar is spreading across the plains.
Romania next to Hungary and Bulgaria
Romania's two closest market partners make useful contrasts. Hungary leans on its Paks nuclear plant and a big build-out of solar, and keeps the regulated household tariffs that Romania has now left behind. South of the Danube, Bulgaria has a similar backbone of nuclear and coal but far less hydro, and its households still pay regulated prices, now in euros. Austria is also dominated by hydro, but Romania has a much larger fleet of thermal plants to fall back on when its rivers run low.
Romania compared with its neighbours
In 2024, hydro made 26%, nuclear made 21% and gas made 17% of the electricity generated in Romania. Wind, solar, hydro, nuclear and bioenergy together made 66% of generation in Romania.
Gross electricity generation in 2024 by energy source. Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_peh). Pumped hydro is left out.
Voltly does not cover Romania yet
Voltly shows hourly prices in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Netherlands and Belgium.
Voltly is for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Questions about the electricity price in Romania
- What does an ordinary household in Romania pay for electricity?
- A household in Romania using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year paid 1.46 lei/kWh per kWh on average, all-in, in H1 2026, according to Eurostat (about 28.4 c/kWh at today's rate). The price varies with the network company and the contract.
- How much of the electricity in Romania comes from hydro?
- 26% of the electricity generated in Romania came from hydro in 2024 (Eurostat), the largest single source.
- How does the power mix in Romania compare with the neighbours?
- In 2024: Romania: hydro 26%, nuclear 21%; Hungary: nuclear 42%, solar 24%; Bulgaria: nuclear 41%, coal, lignite and peat 23%.
- Why does this page show no hourly prices for Romania?
- Romania's day-ahead prices are published by the exchange OPCOM, and they may not be freely republished. This page therefore shows Eurostat's official household prices, which come out twice a year and include network tariffs, levies and taxes. The hourly price itself is still set every day in the European market coupling.
- What happened when the household price cap ended?
- From July 2025 the capped price no longer applied, and households began paying the prices in their contracts, which reflect wholesale costs. Bills rose for many families, especially those who had never compared offers. ANRE publishes a comparison of the offers available in each area.
- What are green certificates on a Romanian bill?
- They are Romania's older support scheme for renewable power. Wind, solar, biomass and small hydro plants that joined the scheme years ago receive certificates for each MWh, and suppliers must buy a quota of them, passing the cost on as a separate line on the bill. The scheme is closed to new plants, so the charge reflects past investment rather than today's market.