Energy #13 Legislative focus

After almost four years of parliamentary procedure, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the law approving GEO 163/2022 on the promotion of renewable energy, acting as the decisive chamber in the re-examination procedure requested by the President of Romania in 2024.

The final parliamentary text does not retain several provisions that had previously been introduced during the legislative process, including changes concerning the definition of active consumers and rules that would have required suppliers to offer active consumers and prosumers with storage capacity the option to buy and sell electricity at the hourly day-ahead market price.

The text adopted following re-examination retains a new general provision requiring the Ministry of Energy, together with ANRE, central and local public authorities, to adopt measures creating a favourable framework for renewable self-consumption. This includes measures intended to support access to self-consumption for all final customers, including vulnerable or low-income households, reduce unjustified regulatory and financing barriers, and facilitate self-consumption opportunities for building owners and tenants.

The adoption closes a long-running legislative file that has remained open since 2022 and provides the final parliamentary basis for GEO 163/2022.

For prosumers, active consumers, renewable developers and companies providing self-consumption solutions, the practical relevance of the final amendment is limited at this stage. It creates a policy obligation for public authorities to facilitate self-consumption, but it does not itself establish a new tariff option, financing scheme or operational entitlement.

The next phase will depend on whether the Ministry of Energy, ANRE and other competent authorities translate this general obligation into concrete regulatory, administrative or support measures.

The Senate adopted the legislative proposal extending the scope of Law No. 185/2016 on projects of national importance in the gas sector to underground gas storage infrastructure. The initiative will now move to the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decisive chamber.

The Senate retained the inclusion of storage facilities, associated installations and storage wells within the special procedural regime currently applicable to projects of national importance in the gas sector. It also maintained the application of the new rules to procedures already under review or approval when the law enters into force.

At the same time, the Senate removed the provision that would have excluded the possibility of suspending administrative acts and related works through court proceedings. It also removed the proposed obligation for the competent authority to issue a new construction permit within a short deadline where an existing permit had been suspended or had ceased to apply.

The Senate text also extends the possibility of implementing projects of national importance in the gas sector in protected natural areas and biodiversity priority zones, through derogations from the general protection regime.

For gas storage operators and infrastructure developers, the proposal continues to signal a legislative direction aimed at placing underground storage investments within the accelerated procedural framework used for strategic gas infrastructure.

The removal of the proposed litigation restrictions means that projects would remain subject to the ordinary possibility of judicial suspension. This is relevant for developers assessing permitting timelines, construction risk and legal exposure.

The environmental derogations may become the most sensitive part of the file in the Chamber of Deputies, particularly for projects that involve protected areas, forest land or biodiversity-sensitive locations. Their final wording will affect both the permitting route for developers and the scrutiny expected from environmental authorities and civil society organisations.

ANRE published a draft decision approving Transelectrica’s Development Plan for the Electricity Transmission Network for 2026-2035. The plan sets out the investment programme for the development and modernisation of the transmission network over the next decade.

The document includes 18 new investment works with an estimated total value of approximately RON 1.067 billion. These include modernisation works in substations such as Tulcea Vest, Constanța Nord, Gura Ialomiței, Turnu Măgurele and Bucharest South, as well as digitalisation projects including DigiTEL Next-Gen Power Grid and DigiTEL Smart Lines.

The draft decision also requires Transelectrica to include, in the next edition of the plan, an action plan for data transfer between the transmission system operator’s SCADA system and distribution operators’ SCADA systems. It also requires joint studies with distribution operators on maintaining voltage levels in 110 kV networks and on the investment works needed in those networks.

For renewable energy developers, storage investors, distribution operators and large consumers connected to the transmission network, the plan provides an indication of where grid reinforcement and digitalisation investments are expected over the coming years.

The relevance is not limited to the individual projects listed in the plan. The inclusion of work related to digitalisation, SCADA interoperability and 110 kV network studies reflects growing pressure to coordinate transmission and distribution planning as more decentralised generation, storage and flexible demand connect to the system.

For companies with projects dependent on grid access or network capacity, the public consultation is also an opportunity to assess whether the planned investments address relevant congestion, connection or operational constraints.