Romania is starting to treat electricity demand and previously passive backup infrastructure as tradeable power-system assets, creating a flexibility market for aggregators and virtual power plants. Two developments highlight the shift. In September, transmission operator Transelectrica activated Romania’s first balancing reserve group made entirely from controllable electricity consumption. In parallel, Huawei Romania, Bamboo Energy and Flexumers are developing a virtual power plant aggregating batteries at telecom sites.
Balancing reserve activation using controllable consumption
On Sept. 1, a portfolio aggregated by Flexumers supplied 3 MW of upward manually activated frequency restoration reserve, or mFRR, by reducing electricity consumption. No generator or storage unit was involved in the activation. The arrangement changes how industrial consumers interact with the power market by enabling them to sell flexibility rather than only purchase electricity as an input.
Demand response allows companies to temporarily reduce or shift consumption when the system requires it, without requiring production to stop. Flexible loads can include pumps, compressors, refrigeration, heating and ventilation systems, water treatment and other processes where electricity use can be moved for limited periods without materially affecting output. An aggregator identifies eligible loads, sets a consumption baseline and combines flexibility from multiple customers into a portfolio sized for market participation.
When Transelectrica requests activation, the aggregator distributes the required response among participating consumers. Customers can receive part of the flexibility revenue tied to their contribution. Participation depends on whether payments for changing consumption exceed operational costs associated with providing that change.
ANRE rules enable consumption-flexibility services via aggregators
Regulatory steps are also being put in place for this business model. In August, energy regulator ANRE approved rules allowing eligible consumers to provide consumption-flexibility services directly or through suppliers and aggregators. Remotely readable metering is used to support measurement and verification.
The framework provides aggregators access to a pool of assets that may require limited conventional energy investment. Flexumers has estimated Romania could have about 700 MW of potential aggregation capacity, although only part of that resource is expected to be technically available and commercially viable. A steel plant, food processor, cement producer or logistics centre could therefore participate in electricity markets without owning a power plant, with flexible consumption acting as the asset.
Virtual power plant concept using existing telecom batteries
A second Romanian project applies similar principles to infrastructure already containing physical energy storage. Telecommunications networks use batteries to maintain service during outages, with thousands of installations spending most of their operating lives waiting for emergencies. A partnership involving Huawei Romania, Bamboo Energy and Flexumers aims to assess whether part of that dormant capacity can provide electricity-market services while preserving the primary backup function.
Bamboo Energy provides optimisation technology, while Flexumers supplies aggregation and market access. The partners plan to test charging and discharging against market conditions and participation in both mFRR and aFRR balancing services. The approach differs from constructing a conventional grid-scale battery because the batteries already exist.
The investment opportunity is largely focused on software, communications, market access and optimisation needed to convert geographically dispersed devices into a single controllable portfolio. A virtual power plant could therefore involve thousands of relatively small assets that the electricity market treats as one resource.
Expanding flexibility beyond generation into software-driven coordination
The same aggregation model can extend beyond telecom operators’ resilience expenditures into recurring revenue opportunities. Telecom operators traditionally treat backup batteries as a resilience expense, while aggregation could convert part of that expenditure into revenue-generating capacity. Similar principles may apply to other sectors where batteries, generators, thermal systems or other equipment are maintained for purposes not tied to electricity-market participation.
Data centres, hospitals, logistics facilities, commercial buildings and industrial plants may contain flexibility that can be monetised without undermining core functions. The key requirement is identifying how much capacity can be made available safely, at what times it can be offered and under which operational constraints. That process aligns with the aggregator’s role in turning distributed flexibility into deliverable products.
The emerging Romanian market has two sides: industrial demand response converting controllable consumption into flexibility, and virtual power plants converting distributed physical assets into flexibility. Over time an aggregator could combine both streams within one portfolio that includes factories reducing demand temporarily, telecom batteries discharging, commercial buildings adjusting HVAC systems and EV fleets delaying charging.
The system would view the combined portfolio as controllable capacity rather than thousands of separate devices. Aggregation also depends on coordination capabilities because assets cannot simultaneously provide full capacity across multiple balancing products while retaining reserves needed for their primary functions. Similarly, industrial consumers cannot commit to flexibility if production schedules cannot reliably deliver it.
The commercial focus increasingly sits in software supporting forecasting customer behaviour, determining asset availability, optimising bids, issuing dispatch instructions and collecting meter data to verify delivery of requested flexibility. It also involves managing conflicts between revenue opportunities across different services.
This creates potential markets for virtual power plant platforms, automated demand-response systems, industrial energy-management software and flexibility verification services as Romania moves beyond the first stage of electricity-market liberalisation . The central question becomes who can control thousands of smaller loads and assets already connected to the system and turn their flexibility into a bankable electricity-market product .
