South East Europe’s energy transition will not be financed by bank debt alone. The investment requirement is too large, the asset base is too diverse and the market is becoming too sophisticated. Equity capital markets, green bonds, corporate debt, DFI finance and project-finance structures will all be needed.
The problem is that the region’s capital markets are uneven.
Greece and Romania have the deepest energy capital-market stories. Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia have institutional capital but fewer large listed energy champions. The Western Balkans remain more dependent on development finance institutions, local banks, strategic investors and state-backed utilities.
Romania’s Hidroelectrica IPO remains the defining SEE capital-market transaction. The €1.9 billion listing was the largest ever IPO on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the third-largest in CEE at the time, and the largest European IPO of 2023.
That IPO proved something important: large, cash-generative, strategically important SEE energy assets can attract international institutional capital. Hidroelectrica was not a speculative green story. It was a mature hydropower producer with scale, strategic relevance and strong profitability. That is why the IPO worked.
But Hidroelectrica is also the exception. Most renewable platforms in SEE are still more likely to exit through trade sales, infrastructure funds, asset rotation or strategic minority stakes than through IPOs. Public equity markets can absorb large, mature champions; they are less suitable for fragmented development pipelines.
Corporate bond markets are becoming more relevant, especially in Greece. PPC priced €775 million of 4.25% Green Senior Notes due 2030 in October 2025. The transaction shows that large regional utilities can use green debt markets to refinance liabilities and fund eligible green projects.
That type of issuance matters because it creates a capital-market bridge between corporate transformation and project deployment. A large utility does not need to finance every wind, solar or storage asset with separate non-recourse project debt. It can also use corporate-level green financing, provided investors believe in the credit story and green framework.
Banks are another key capital-market channel. Greek banks, Romanian banks and regional groups such as Erste, UniCredit, Raiffeisen, Intesa Sanpaolo, OTP and Piraeus are central to renewable finance. They do not only lend directly to projects; they also support green bond markets, corporate refinancing and DFI-led syndications.
Development finance institutions remain the backbone of many transactions. EBRD, EIB and IFC are particularly important because they reduce financing risk, mobilize commercial banks and support regulatory frameworks such as auctions and CfDs.
EBRD’s €175 million loan to PPC for around 400 MW of wind and solar projects in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania is a recent example of DFI capital supporting a regional utility’s renewables rollout, with InvestEU support enabling longer-term funding.
In the Western Balkans, EIB remains a major source of climate and infrastructure finance. The EIB Group invested €822 million in the Western Balkans in 2025 and signed a €103 million loan for the 132 MW Poklečani wind farm in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The capital stack for bankable SEE renewables usually has several layers: sponsor equity, commercial bank debt, DFI participation, auction-backed or contracted revenue, and sometimes EU grant or guarantee support. In more advanced markets, corporate PPAs and merchant components are becoming more accepted. In less mature markets, lenders still prefer clearer revenue support.
Romania’s CfD scheme is important because it turns renewable projects into more financeable assets. EBRD says the scheme has awarded 4.2 GW of solar and wind capacity across two auctions, exceeding the national target of 3.5 GW under Romania’s Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The capital-market question for SEE is therefore not whether money exists. It does. The question is whether projects are structured in a way that capital can absorb.
Investors want visibility. Banks want bankability. Bondholders want credit discipline. DFIs want transition impact. Strategic buyers want platforms. Governments want capacity and lower consumer risk.
The strongest projects will satisfy several of those needs at once.
South East Europe’s energy capital markets are still developing, but the direction is clear. Mature utilities can access green bonds. Large national champions can list. Strong projects can raise project finance. DFI participation can crowd in commercial banks. Auctions and CfDs can transform early markets into bankable markets.
The next stage will be deeper local capital participation, more green-bond issuance, more storage finance and more hybrid corporate/project structures.
The region does not lack capital. It lacks enough de-risked, grid-secured, well-structured assets ready for that capital.