CEE Solar 2026: Capture Rates, Curtailment & the New Project Economics
In 2026, capture rates have declined to 50-60% of baseload, while negative prices have reshaped the investment case for standalone PV assets. This panel evaluates how developers and financiers navigate cannibalisation and grid constraints.
• How are curtailment and cannibalisation impacting asset economics?
• What does a financeable, bankable solar project look like today?
• What innovations in PPAs and revenue hedging protect asset value?
• Has standalone utility-scale solar had its day in the region?
Co-location, Storage & Asset Performance
Asset Lifecycle Management
We will examine the essential transition from construction to operations, the evolution of asset management strategies as projects mature, and how developers can optimise assets for refinancing or sale to maximise returns.
• What are the most common failures during the construction-to-operations handover, and how do they impact long-term performance and asset value?
• How should asset management strategies evolve across different lifecycle stages, and what operational track record do buyers and refinancers demand when evaluating existing assets?
• What emerging risks, including cybersecurity threats, extreme weather events, and regulatory changes, require proactive asset management responses?
Building Sellable Assets: What Makes Projects Attractive to Buyers?
Understanding what buyers truly value is essential for developers seeking to maximise returns. This session examines the critical factors that differentiate highly attractive assets from those that struggle to find buyers, exploring the gap between developer assumptions and investor requirements across different buyer types and market conditions.
• What specific technical, commercial, and legal attributes do different buyer types (utilities, infrastructure funds, corporates) prioritise when evaluating solar assets?
• How do grid connection quality, offtake structures, and site characteristics impact asset valuations and buyer appetite in today's market?
• What documentation, warranties, and operational track records are now considered essential for a smooth transaction process?
Investment, Finance & Offtake
PPAs in CEE: What the Next Generation of Deals Looks Like
While hybrid projects dominate industry conversations, PPA closures in Central and Eastern Europe remain scarce due to complexity gaps between sellers and corporate buyers.
• What PPA structures are successfully closing in CEE today versus what remains industry hype
• How corporate buyers perceive battery economics and why they view hybrid investments as speculative prop trading
• Utility discount levels on hybrid assets and their impact on developer returns
• Emerging wind-plus-PV-plus-optional-battery configurations gaining traction
• Cross-border PPA arrangements becoming essential for scope 2 requirements and 24-hour matching
• Market sophistication gaps preventing transaction flow in Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary
Hybrid Projects in CEE: From Bankable Structure to Profitable Operations
Battery-plus-solar has moved from concept to pipeline across CEE, but the gap between projected and actual economics remains wide. This session covers the full arc from how to structure and finance a hybrid project to whether the numbers work once it is built.
• What revenue gap between projected and actual battery performance are developers and lenders seeing in CEE markets, and how is this being priced into debt models?
• What are the real capital expenditure and grid connection economics of co-location versus retrofitting storage to existing solar assets, and how should developers optimise battery sizing, duration, and dispatch strategy for different CEE market conditions?
• Which revenue streams, such as arbitrage, capacity markets, frequency response, and curtailment mitigation, are lenders willing to underwrite, and how do you structure EPC and O&M contracts to allocate performance risk appropriately when battery revenues are merchant?
Co-location, Storage & Asset Performance
Unreserved Sponsor Session
Data Centres as Anchor Offtakers: The Emerging Opportunity
Data centres are emerging as anchor offtakers in the Central and Eastern European market, driven by the need to pair massive power demand with on-site generation and battery energy storage systems. We will explore how these tech hubs are transitioning from passive consumers to active power market participants, the barriers to securing reliable corporate PPAs, and the broader grid implications.
• How are data centres integrating behind-the-meter solar and BESS to meet sustainability mandates while ensuring uninterrupted operations?
• What unique regulatory, grid-connection, and infrastructure challenges must developers solve to serve these high-density loads in CEE markets?
• How will the transition of data centres into active grid balancers impact local PPA structures and regional energy security?
Investment, Finance & Offtake
Lender Perspectives on Solar Revenue Stacking Amid Rising Curtailment
The CEE project finance landscape is transforming as lenders adapt underwriting models to manage grid constraints and merchant volatility. This conversation explores how debt providers are evolving their risk assessment frameworks for solar and hybrid projects facing curtailment and revenue uncertainty, and what developers must demonstrate to secure competitive financing.
• How is curtailment risk being priced by financial institutions during debt structuring?
• Which co-location and battery storage revenue streams are truly considered bankable by risk officers?
• What flexible financing structures and debt covenants are required to unlock capital for hybrid energy projects?
• How have debt-sizing models changed in response to negative pricing?
• What due diligence requirements have become more stringent, and what can developers do to prepare?
Unreserved Sponsor Session
The Regional Energy Transition in Focus: Synergies in Fleet Decarbonisation and Grid Evolution
The structural transition of the CEE energy landscape is accelerating as utilities balance the phased retirement of legacy thermal fleets with large-scale renewable deployment. This session explores how the region’s largest power producers are managing baseload replacement, financing gigawatt-scale portfolios, and repurposing existing infrastructure to secure regional energy networks.
• How are leading utilities balancing coal decommissioning timelines with the buildout of flexible renewable generation?
• What are the primary technical and capital challenges of converting legacy thermal grid connections into hybrid clean energy hubs?
• How are state-backed utilities structuring joint ventures and financing arrangements to scale up regional investment?
• What role will large utilities play in providing system stability and ancillary services across the CEE region?
Networking Roundtables
Table 1: The Baltic Blueprint - Advanced Solar-Plus-Storage Hybridisation and Merchant PV Execution
• Join this table to exchange insights with leading Baltic developers on how to design and finance merchant solar portfolios using co-located storage to thrive without subsidies in volatile power markets.
Table 2: The Algorithmic Edge - AI Dispatch, Automated Trading, and Revenue Optimisation for Hybrid Solar Assets
• Pull up a chair with solar asset managers and software optimisers to explore how AI-driven automated trading shields utility solar revenues from peak midday price cannibalisation.
Table 3: Engineering Resilience – Premium Tech Differentiation and Degradation Realities under CEE Conditions
• Connect with Tier-1 manufacturers at this table to evaluate how advanced module engineering choices like TOPCon and Heterojunction protect the 20-year bankability and real-world energy yield of regional solar fleets.
Table 4: Harmonious Land Use - Overcoming Spatial and Permitting Constraints via Agrivoltaics
• Join this interactive discussion to analyse the practical engineering and leasing frameworks required to scale up utility-scale solar projects on agricultural land.
Table 5: TSO Macro-Planning - Aligning Solar Project Siting with Long-Term Network Investment Timelines
• Take a seat at this table to map out how utility solar developers can proactively analyse national transmission roadmaps to secure optimal project locations before submitting grid connection applications.
Geopolitics, Energy Security & the Renewable Supply Chain
The European solar supply chain is navigating a period of structured adjustment following recent shifts in international financing guidelines. We will explore how upcoming European compliance and cybersecurity frameworks affect clean tech procurement and outline the strategic steps developers are taking to maintain pipeline bankability.
• What are the core timelines of the new compliance restrictions, and how will they affect standard product sourcing by 2027?
• How are developers modifying their procurement pipelines to align with updating international standards without sacrificing project efficiency?
• What regulatory and risk assessments are being deployed to evaluate the bankability of alternative supply chains?
• How can international investors safeguard active and upcoming project pipelines against shifting financial eligibility criteria?
Module Sourcing: Navigating European Production and Global Pricing Dynamics
Module sourcing decisions have become increasingly complex as developers balance cost competitiveness, supply chain security, and evolving local content requirements. With significant price disparities between Chinese and European production, and varying regulatory approaches across CEE markets, this panel examines the practical considerations shaping procurement strategies. From the economics of local content mandates to supply chain risk assessment and long-term market positioning, we explore how different stakeholders navigate the tension between immediate cost pressures and strategic supply chain decisions.
• How do developers balance cost competitiveness with supply chain security and regulatory compliance?
• What is the realistic outlook for European module production competitiveness and market positioning?
• How do local content requirements and international trade dynamics affect procurement strategies across CEE markets?
Market Deep-Dives
Ukraine: Solar and Storage Investment Under Wartime Conditions
Ukraine's renewable energy market has not stopped. Solar and battery storage projects continue to reach financial close, supported by international donors, duty exemptions, and a growing cohort of private developers willing to underwrite the risk. This session examines how deals are getting done, what the risk mitigation toolkit looks like, and whether Ukraine represents a genuine near-term opportunity for the CEE solar investment community.
• What is the current state of solar and BESS development activity in Ukraine and which parts of the country are viable?
• How are international donors and DFIs structuring financing to make projects bankable under wartime conditions?
• What political risk and war risk insurance products are available and what do they cover?
• How are developers managing construction logistics, grid connection, and operational security on active sites?
• What does the post-war reconstruction pipeline look like and how should investors be positioning now?
Romania: Solar-Plus-Storage - From First Movers to Mainstream
Romania's co-located solar and battery storage market has moved faster than almost any other CEE market. The first hybrid projects are operational, financing structures are being tested against real performance data, and the pipeline behind them is substantial. This session focuses entirely on the co-located solar-plus-storage opportunity, what is working, what is not, and what the next wave of projects needs to get right.
• What co-located solar-plus-storage configurations are reaching financial close in Romania and what does a bankable project structure look like?
• What are the first operational hybrid projects revealing about actual battery dispatch performance, capture rates and revenue versus projections?
• How are developers sizing and optimising battery duration for the Romanian market specifically?
• Which revenue streams within the Romanian co-located stack - frequency response, capacity market, arbitrage, curtailment mitigation - are lenders willing to underwrite?
• How is Transelectrica's new grid framework affecting co-location connection rights and shared infrastructure economics?
• What is the realistic timeline before Romania faces the solar cannibalisation pressures already visible in Poland, and does co-located storage change that calculation?
Project Development & Grid
From Ready-to-Build to Fully Deployable: What Utility-Scale Projects Require
The CEE utility-scale market has fundamentally shifted. Investors and funds are no longer accepting projects that simply hold planning consent, grid connection agreements, and land rights. Today's market demands fully deployable assets that can move seamlessly from financial close to energisation, with discharged planning conditions, resolved physical site challenges, and proven construction readiness that goes far beyond the "three-consent fallacy."
• What has fundamentally changed in investor expectations for utility-scale project readiness, and why are planning consent, grid connection, and land rights no longer sufficient to secure capital commitment?
• Which critical gaps between "ready-to-build" and "fully deployable" consistently cause transaction failures during due diligence, and how can developers proactively demonstrate genuine buildability beyond securing three key consents?
• What are the cost implications and business model adjustments required to achieve "fully deployable" status in today's compressed return environment, and how should developers structure their approach to meet these higher readiness standards?
Zoning, Permitting & Regulatory Bottlenecks: The Hidden Project Killer
Grid connection gets most of the attention, but permitting is quietly killing as much pipeline across CEE. Planning timelines that stretch years beyond EU targets, environmental consenting processes that vary wildly between markets, and municipal opposition that emerges late in the development cycle are collectively responsible for a significant share of project failures that never make it into the public data. This session examines what is happening on the ground and what developers can do to protect their pipelines.
• How do permitting timelines and processes compare across Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria — where is the system working and where is it broken?
• What is the gap between the EU's two-year permitting target and reality in CEE markets, and what is driving it?
• How are environmental consenting requirements evolving and which habitat and biodiversity rules are creating the most friction for utility-scale solar?
• What early-stage development practices reduce permitting risk and which mistakes do developers repeatedly make that could be avoided?
• How are municipalities and local communities influencing planning outcomes and what does effective stakeholder engagement look like?
• What regulatory reforms are most needed and which markets are moving in the right direction?
Market Deep-Dives
Czechia: Unlocking Opportunity
Examining development opportunities, grid capacity, and PPA structures in a market showing promise but requiring deeper corporate buyer engagement.
Bulgaria: CEE's Quiet Overachiever - Solar and Storage Without Subsidies
Bulgaria is one of Europe's most compelling subsidy-free solar stories. With gigawatt-scale additions and massive projects advancing, the market faces declining capture rates and new eco-taxes. This session explores the country’s next phase, detailing merchant strategies, hybrid project economics, and the impact of the 2026 Eurozone adoption.
• How has Bulgaria sustained three consecutive years of 1 GW-plus solar deployment without direct subsidies?
• What do current storage project configurations look like, and what are lenders underwriting to reach financial close?
• What critical structuring lessons can developers and financiers learn from Bulgaria’s largest merchant hybrid project?
• How far along is the transition to standalone storage and hybridization to combat declining capture rates?
• How severely will the recent sharp increases in local recycling fees impact procurement for new projects?
• What does Eurozone adoption mean for reducing currency risk and attracting Western institutional capital to project finance?
Project Development & Grid
Grid Challenges, Curtailment & the Case for Cable Pooling
Grid connectivity has emerged as the defining challenge across CEE markets, fundamentally reshaping project economics and development timelines. Curtailment is eroding revenues, connection costs are escalating, and traditional grid access routes are proving inadequate. This session examines the technical and commercial realities facing developers today, exploring how cable pooling, alternative connection routes, and strategic grid engagement can unlock project viability in constrained markets.
• What is the current state of grid capacity and curtailment across CEE markets?
• How does cable pooling work, and what commercial benefits does it offer?
• What are the alternative routes to grid connectivity, and when do they make sense?
• How are recent grid connection rule changes affecting project development?
Roundtables:
- Roundtable 1: Cable Pooling Commercial Structures
- Roundtable 2: Technical Grid Solutions & Engineering Workarounds
- Roundtable 3: Navigating DSO/TSO Relationships & Alternative Routes
- Roundtable 4: Financing Projects with Grid & Curtailment Risk
- Roundtable 5: Grid Reform & Policy Advocacy
- Roundtable 6: Ancillary services and Flexibility Markets
Attracting Western Institutional Capital to CEE
Central and Eastern Europe has seen pioneer investors deploy capital successfully, yet mainstream Western institutional funds remain largely absent. This closing panel examines the barriers preventing large infrastructure investors from entering CEE markets and what needs to change to unlock institutional-scale capital deployment.
• Why have mainstream Western institutional investors not yet entered CEE markets at scale?
• What specific concerns around grid, power prices, currency risk, and revenue repatriation affect investment decisions?
• What needs to happen for CEE to attract the next wave of institutional capital?
