PPC's Rețele Electrice Will Double Line Capacity Across Dobrogea So More Wind Power Can Reach the Grid
Rețele Electrice will rebuild four 110 kV lines in Constanța and Tulcea, doubling their capacity so more wind can connect. What it means for developers.
Four high-voltage lines in Dobrogea are about to carry twice as much power as they do today. Rețele Electrice România, the PPC Group distribution operator, announced on 28 September 2026 that it will rebuild four 110 kV overhead lines in Constanța and Tulcea, doubling their capacity so more renewable generation can connect in Romania’s windiest region.
What changes on the ground
- Four 110 kV lines: three in Constanța County, one in Tulcea County.
- New conductors: the old wires are replaced with new-generation conductors and existing poles are rehabilitated, doubling the transport capacity of the lines.
- Substation upgrades: current transformers at the 110/20 kV Sitorman, Săcele and Mihai Viteazu substations go from 300 A to 600 A.
- Digital protection: new digital differential relays on the short lines, integrated into the national power system, for faster fault detection and remote fixes.
Where the lines run
- Constanța: three lines feeding the Sitorman quarry industrial area and nearby localities through the Sitorman, Săcele and Mihai Viteazu substations.
- Tulcea: one line serving Topolog, Ciucurova, Nalbant, Frecăței, Cataloi and Tulcea city.
The money and the clock
- Budget: about 86 million lei including VAT, roughly €17 million.
- EU co-funding: more than 46.3 million lei (excluding VAT) from the Sustainable Development and Just Transition Programme (PDDTJ) 2021-2027, under a contract with the Ministry of Investments and European Projects.
- Duration: 20 months from signing the financing contract.
The ticket is small. The impact per leu is not: doubling line capacity on existing corridors is one of the cheapest ways to unlock grid space, because it avoids new rights of way and new permits.
“Dobrogea is an optimal area for renewable energy production.” Mihai Pește, General Director, Rețele Electrice România
What it means for wind developers
Dobrogea’s biggest constraint is not wind, it is grid. Many wind projects in Constanța and Tulcea have stalled because the 110 kV distribution network cannot take more injection at peak. Doubling the capacity of these four lines should:
- Free up hosting capacity at the Sitorman, Săcele and Mihai Viteazu nodes and along the Tulcea corridor, which developers can test in new connection requests.
- Reduce curtailment risk for existing generators feeding the same lines.
- Set a planning window. With a 20-month programme, developers seeking grid connection in these areas should time their technical studies and connection applications to match the upgrade schedule, rather than accept costly reinforcement obligations now.
The bigger programme behind it
Rețele Electrice operates about 136,000 km of networks across Muntenia, including Bucharest, Banat and Dobrogea, roughly one third of Romania’s local distribution market. In the past two years it has filed 42 funding applications worth nearly €1 billion, with more than €300 million in signed contracts and 21 projects underway under the Modernisation Fund, PDDTJ and LIFE.
Momentum Energy’s View
This is the kind of grid investment Romania needs more of: targeted, fast and aimed directly at connection bottlenecks. For developers and investors:
- Watch the nodes, not the headline. The four upgraded lines define where new wind and hybrid projects in Constanța and Tulcea will find room first.
- Distribution matters as much as transmission. Much of Dobrogea’s mid-size wind connects at 110 kV, so DSO upgrades can unlock capacity faster than Transelectrica’s large projects.
- Expect more of these. With €1 billion in applications filed, Rețele Electrice has a pipeline of similar upgrades. Developers should track its funding announcements as an early signal of new grid capacity.
Sources and references
Organisations and documents cited in this article.
- The Diplomat Bucharest: Rețele Electrice România invests 86 million lei for the high-voltage networks in Constanta and Tulcea (28 September 2026)
- Economica.net: Rețele Electrice România investește 86 milioane lei pentru rețelele de înaltă tensiune din Constanța și Tulcea (28 September 2026)
- Transelectrica (transmission system operator)
- EU Modernisation Fund (European Commission, Climate Action)
