South East Europe’s energy M&A market is changing. The first phase of the region’s energy transition was mainly a megawatt race: developers looked for good wind and solar resource, investors looked for pipeline volume, and utilities looked for decarbonization assets. That story is still relevant, but it is no longer enough.
The new M&A thesis is about platforms, not only projects.
A renewable project is valuable. A grid-secured, operating, contracted, multi-market renewable platform is much more valuable. That is the difference now shaping valuations across Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and the wider Western Balkans.
This change reflects a broader global trend. PwC’s 2026 energy, utilities and resources M&A outlook says global power and utilities deal value rose by around 57% from 2024 to 2025, supported by rising electricity demand, energy security concerns and investor appetite for large capacity-driven transactions.
The same forces are visible in South East Europe, but with a regional twist. SEE is not only adding renewables; it is also dealing with grid congestion, coal-transition risk, market-coupling gaps, negative prices, storage needs and energy-security concerns. Investors are therefore not just buying electrons. They are buying strategic positions in a market that is becoming more volatile and more integrated.
The best example is Masdar’s acquisition of TERNA Energy. The transaction valued TERNA Energy at an enterprise value of around €3.2 billion, making it one of the largest European renewables transactions and a benchmark for strategic platform value. TERNA Energy had around 1.2 GW of operating capacity and a target of 6 GW by 2029, meaning the buyer was paying for much more than the existing operating megawatts. It was paying for a platform, a development engine and regional optionality.
PPC’s acquisition of Evryo in Romania shows a second type of platform logic. PPC acquired a 629 MW operating renewables portfolio, mainly onshore wind, plus about 145 MW of pipeline assets. The deal had an enterprise value of approximately €700 million and was expected to add about €100 million of annual EBITDA.
That transaction was not only about Romania. It was about PPC becoming a larger regional utility. A Greek incumbent buying Romanian wind assets is a sign that SEE power markets are consolidating across borders. Utilities are increasingly thinking in terms of regional generation, customer supply, trading exposure and portfolio balancing.
The PPC–Metlen solar cooperation points in the same direction. The two Greek groups agreed to develop up to 2 GW of solar projects across Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, with the value of the framework estimated at up to €2 billion. Metlen develops and constructs; PPC acquires projects after grid connection.
This structure matters because it shows how M&A is evolving from simple acquisitions into industrial partnerships. Developers want capital recycling. Utilities want de-risked growth. EPC-linked developers want predictable exits. Buyers want grid-connected projects rather than speculative pipeline.
Three implications follow.
First, early-stage pipelines are no longer valued mainly by headline MW. Investors are discounting projects heavily if grid access, land, permits or offtake are unclear. In SEE, a theoretical pipeline can be cheap, but a grid-secured pipeline is scarce.
Second, operating assets with contracted revenues are becoming premium assets. TotalEnergies’ sale of 50% of a 424 MW Greek wind and solar portfolio to Asterion valued the portfolio at €508 million, or about €1.2 million per MW installed. EDPR’s sale of a 150 MW Greek operating wind portfolio to Principia involved assets with 20-year CfDs, reinforcing the premium attached to revenue visibility.
Third, storage optionality is becoming part of renewable value. A solar project with battery-ready grid capacity should command more interest than a standalone solar project exposed entirely to midday price cannibalization. This will become more important as negative prices and intra-day spreads grow across SEE.
The market’s new rule is simple: not all megawatts are equal.
A permitted MW is worth more than a paper MW. A grid-secured MW is worth more than a permitted MW. A contracted operating MW is worth more than a merchant MW. A storage-ready MW may soon be worth more than a standalone MW.
South East Europe’s energy M&A market is therefore entering a more selective phase. Buyers will still chase growth, but they will pay the highest prices for platforms that combine operating cash flow, development capability, grid access, storage optionality and regional strategic fit.
The next wave of SEE deals will not be won by whoever has the largest spreadsheet pipeline. It will be won by whoever controls the most bankable positions in the electricity system.