Parapet and MetaWealth have begun construction of the Dumbrava battery energy storage system in Neamț County, Romania, a standalone 50 MW/100 MWh project that the developer now expects to enter commercial operation in April 2027. In January 2026 the same developer said the 100 MWh Dumbrava system and 30 MWh of co-located storage would be operating in full by the fourth quarter of 2026.
What the project is
Dumbrava will have 20 battery units, five power conversion units and a 20/110 kV transformation station with a power transformer. Parapet Group, founded in 2012 and active as a contractor for solar, wind and storage projects, is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. MetaWealth, a European real assets investment platform that previously focused on real estate, has said the grid connection is approved and the main equipment packages were ready for shipment when the first financing was announced at the end of August 2026.
The duration is 2 hours, since 100 MWh over 50 MW gives 2 hours of full output. MetaWealth reports a €19 million financing package for Dumbrava, the first financial close under its Romanian storage programme, which covers about 850 MWh of identified and pipeline projects with an estimated total investment of about €160 million. A local bank is reported to have provided about €10 million of that financing over seven years.
The schedule has moved
| Item | January 2026 announcement | August to October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | 130 MWh: 100 MWh at Dumbrava plus 30 MWh co-located at several sites | Dumbrava 50 MW/100 MWh; the 30 MWh is not mentioned |
| Investment | About €22 million for the 130 MWh | €19 million financing package for Dumbrava |
| Timing | First 30 MWh in Q3 2026, all 130 MWh by Q4 2026 | Commercial operation targeted for April 2027 |
April 2027 is at least four months after the end of the fourth quarter of 2026. The sources do not say whether the 30 MWh of co-located storage is on a different timetable, was dropped or is simply not mentioned in the later announcements. The timeline also contains a small inconsistency: the financing announcement of 31 August already described the project as under construction, while the October reports describe the start of construction.
The money per kWh and the spread behind it
The January figure of €22 million for 130 MWh works out at about €169 per kWh, and the programme figure of €160 million for 850 MWh at about €188 per kWh. The €19 million for Dumbrava is a financing package, not a capital cost, so it cannot be divided into a unit price on its own. The programme figure includes projects not yet built, so it is a planning number.
The revenue case rests on price volatility. The financing announcement says an independent advisory group measured a difference of €168 per MWh between the highest and lowest hourly day-ahead prices within a single day in Romania in 2025. If a 100 MWh battery captured that whole spread once a day, the ceiling would be 16,800 euros a day, or about €6.1 million a year, before conversion losses, fees and imbalance costs. That is an upper bound from the stated spread, not a forecast, and the announcements do not give an expected revenue or a contracted revenue floor.
A programme measured in single projects
Dumbrava is the anchor of a larger plan. MetaWealth lists a 48 MW/100 MWh project at Sânpaul in Mureș County and about 650 MWh more in development, and has said it aims to deploy 1 GWh over two years. Counting Dumbrava, Sânpaul and the 650 MWh, the pipeline is about 850 MWh, which is 85 percent of that 1 GWh target and rests on one project with financial close and one under development at a stated size.
The dated checks are the April 2027 commercial operation target, the financing of the remaining projects and any change to the 30 MWh co-located component. No equipment supplier, battery chemistry or offtake arrangement is named in the material reviewed. For another battery project judged against a national storage plan, see Jupiter Wagons’ 41 MW India win. Sources: MetaWealth and Parapet announcements of January, June and August 2026, and the construction start announcement of 9 to 10 October 2026.
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