Tight new permitting and grid connection rules set the bar high for developers

1.                  Preliminary remarks

On 27 April 2026, the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (“ANRE”) published, for a new round of public consultations (i) the Draft Order for the amendment and supplementation of certain ANRE orders in the field of connection of users to the public electricity grid, available in Romanian here (the “Draft Grid Regulation”), and (ii) the Draft Order for the amendment and supplementation of the Regulation for granting licenses and authorisations in the electricity sector approved by ANRE Order No. 6/2025, available in Romanian here (the “Draft Licensing Regulation”).

The drafts are open for public consultation for 10 days from publication, during which comments and proposals may be submitted to ANRE. Thereafter, the drafts are expected to be adopted possibly without further amendments.

Recently, ANRE has launched for public consultation on 6 March 2026 a prior version of a draft regulation meant to tackle the problem of capacity hoarding, while as regards the licensing regulation a draft amendment regulation had been published on 31 December 2025 (“Prior Draft Regulations”).

These proposals signal a clear regulatory direction: discouraging speculative projects and accelerating the implementation of viable ones through stricter timelines, higher financial commitments and more robust enforcement mechanisms. The main novelties introduced by the Draft Grid Regulation and Draft Licensing Regulation are outlined below.

2.                  Introduction/amendment of requirements regarding grid connection

The main changes proposed under the Draft Grid Regulation concern, in particular: (i) increasing the financial guarantee required for obtaining the technical connection permit (Romanian: “aviz tehnic de racordare”) (“ATR”) and introducing new enforcement cases; (ii) introducing new cases for termination of the ATR and of the grid connection agreement (Romanian: “contract de racordare”)  (“GCA”); (iii) regulating the right of the grid operator to request extension of the GCA; and

2.1               Increased financial guarantee required for ATR issuance

For projects exceeding 1 MW, users will be required to provide a financial guarantee in favour of the grid operator amounting to 20% of the connection fee (excluding VAT) (as compared to 5% under the current rules). Under the transitional provisions, the new rules will not apply where the grid operator has already communicated (along with the endorsed solution study) the value of the guarantee, before the entry into force of the Draft Grid Regulation.

New cases allowing the grid operator to enforce the financial guarantee are introduced, namely where: (i) the set-up permit (Romanian: “autorizație de înființare”) for the project is not obtained within the newly introduced deadlines (please refer to point 3.1 below); and (ii) within 6 months from expiry of the set-up permit, if within this period ANRE has not granted a new permit.

Amounts collected from enforced guarantees will constitute financial contributions used exclusively to finance or co-finance grid reinforcement works.

2.2               New cases of ATR and GCA termination

New cases for termination of the ATR and GCA validity are introduced, as follows: (i) where the set-up permit is not obtained within the newly introduced deadlines (please refer to point 3.1 below); and (ii) in 6 months after expiry of the set-up permit, if within this period ANRE has not granted a new permit (ANRE having discretion to set a longer term in case of permit withdrawal).

2.3               Right of the grid operator to request the GCA extension

The grid operator will be entitled to request the GCA extension for successive periods of 12 months, where required for the execution of connection installation and/or grid reinforcement works under its responsibility. The extension request must be submitted at least 30 calendar days before the contractual expiry date, together with a signed addendum (by the grid operator). The user must return the addendum signed by it before the GCA expiry date. If the 30-days term is not observed by the grid operator but the request is still submitted before GCA expiry date, the agreement is automatically extended by 30 days to allow execution of the addendum (this extension also applies where the user requests the extension of the GCA due to the need to extend the deadline for the final energization of the power plant, as already permitted under the current rules).

2.4               Participation bond for the capacity allocation auctions

The existing rules on participation bonds for capacity allocation procedures are proposed to be repealed and replaced.

Under the proposed rules, applicants must provide a participation bond at the time of submitting the capacity allocation request, as follows: (i) for 2026: EUR 20,000/MW installed capacity (converted into RON at the National Bank of Romania (“NBR”) exchange rate on the date of issuance); and (ii) starting with 2027: the lower of (a) EUR 20,000/MW and (b) the weighted average of the contract prices resulting from capacity allocation auctions completed in the previous year. This will be a very big increase in value, as currently the value of the participation bond required is 1% of the starting price of the auction multiplied by the requested capacity expressed in MW.

The new provisions will also apply to pending applications, with applicants required to provide the participation bonds by 14 July 2026.

As before, the participation bonds will be returned to the winning bidders in 2 business days as of the receipt by the grid operator of the signed allocation contract, and to the losing bidders in 2 business days as of the date the auction is completed.

3.                  Introduction/amendment of requirements regarding the set-up permit

The main changes proposed under the Draft Licensing Regulation and the Draft Grid Regulation concern, in particular: (i) the introduction of binding deadlines for obtaining the set-up permit and related sanctions; (ii) the introduction of financial guarantees and stricter requirements regarding project financing; and (iii) duration of the set-up permit.

3.1               Deadlines for obtaining the set-up permit

Under the Draft Licensing Regulation, the application file for the set-up permit may be submitted starting from the date of issuance of the ATR and no later than 30 days from the conclusion of the GCA.

In addition, pursuant to the Draft Grid Regulation, the set-up permit must be obtained by the date of conclusion of the contract for execution of the connection installation, but in any event no later than 12 months from the date of the GCA and 18 months from the date of ATR issuance. By way of exception, where the user directly concludes the contract for the design and/or execution of the connection installation, the set-up permit must still be obtained within a maximum of 12 months from the GCA and 18 months from ATR issuance. However, where ANRE determines, prior to the expiry of these deadlines, that the application and the supporting documentation are complete, such deadlines may be extended by up to 30 days, as necessary for the issuance and communication of the permit.

According to the transitional provisions, the above requirements will apply to users entering into GCAs with the grid operator as of the entry into force of the Draft Grid Regulation. For the GCAs already in force at that date, users are required to obtain the set-up permit within the following maximum timeframes, calculated from the entry into force of the Draft Grid Regulation: (i) 6 months for GCAs concluded before and including 2023; (ii) 9 months for GCAs concluded in 2024; and (iii) 12 months for GCAs concluded in 2025 and in 2026 up to the entry into force of the Draft Grid Regulation. Failure to comply with these deadlines results in the expiry of the ATR and automatic termination of the GCA.

3.2               Financial guarantee required for obtaining the set-up permit

According to the Draft Licensing Regulation, in order to obtain a set-up permit, the applicant must provide proof of establishing a financial guarantee, which is set at 30 EUR/kW (30,000 EUR/MW) of installed capacity, based on the data included in the ATR. If established in Romanian lei, the equivalent is calculated using the NBR exchange rate on the date of establishment.

The guarantee may be provided, at the applicant’s choice, in one of the following irrevocable, unconditional forms, payable at first demand of ANRE: (i) a bank guarantee issued by an authorized credit institution; (ii) a guarantee instrument issued by a non-banking financial institution or an authorized insurer; or (iii) a cash deposit in an ANRE-designated State Treasury account.

The guarantee must remain valid until the issuance of the grid connection certificate (Romanian: “certificat de racordare”). If the set-up permit is extended, the guarantee must also be maintained until the grid connection certificate is obtained.

The guarantee is enforced by ANRE if the permit holder: (i) fails to complete the project and obtain the grid connection certificate within the validity period of the set-up permit; or (ii) abandons the project or ceases implementation activities.

The guarantee is either refunded (for cash deposits) or released (for bank guarantees or similar instruments) within a maximum of 30 days from ANRE’s receipt of the applicant’s request, accompanied by the relevant grid connection certificate.

Under transitional provisions, these requirements apply to all set-up permit applications or extension requests submitted after the entry into force of the Draft Licensing Regulation. For permits issued before the entry into force of the Draft Licensing Regulation, any extension request after that date is conditional upon the submission of the financial guarantee together with the extension request.

3.3               Proof of project financing

Where the applicant submits pre-contractual documentation relating to the project financing, it is required to submit to ANRE the documents confirming the financing within a deadline set under the specific conditions applicable to the set-up permit, but in any case, not exceeding 6 months (as opposed to the current regime where no statutory deadline is provided and the time limit is determined by ANRE on a case-by-case basis).

Failure to comply with the above obligation constitutes grounds for the withdrawal of the set-up permit.

In case the authorisation process is resumed following withdrawal, the application file for a new set-up permit must include, among others, (i) the financing documents for the works covered by the permit; (ii) a note regarding the estimated duration required for completion of the investment project; and (iii) a statement on whether the elements underlying the initial permit remain unchanged or have been modified, together with updated supporting documentation where applicable. The authorisation fee in such case will be the one applicable to the extension of a set-up permit.

Furthermore, to the extent that, following withdrawal of the permit, economic operators subsequently demonstrate compliance with the above obligation regarding proof of financing, the provisions preventing ANRE from granting set-up permits to operators whose permit was withdrawn within the last 5 years will not apply.

According to the transitional provisions, these amendments apply to all holders of set-up permits, whether issued before or after the entry into force of the Draft Licensing Regulation (the 6-month term becomes applicable).

3.4               Term of the set-up permit

The proposed amendments aim to extend the minimum validity period of the set-up permit from 12 to 24 months. The permit holder may request an extension of the permit’s validity at least 60 days before its expiry (compared to the current 30-day deadline). If this 60-day deadline is not met, the request will be resolved either (i) by extending the validity of the current permit if the assessment and approval are completed before the current permit expires, or (ii) by issuing a new permit if the assessment and approval are not completed before expiry. In the latter case, the applicant must submit a statement confirming or updating the data on which the permit was based, and, if any changes have occurred, must also provide the relevant updated documents.

These provisions also apply to requests submitted after the permit has expired, provided they are filed no later than 30 days after the expiry date.

4.                  Conclusions

According to ANRE’s data (available here), as of 1^st of March 2026, there were 1,431 renewable energy projects with valid ATRs, representing a total capacity of 81,322 MW (roughly 4 times the total installed capacity of Romania). Hence, addressing the capacity hoarding issue at the legislative level seems justified. 

At the same time, the proposed conditions (such as tight permitting deadlines and the requirement to secure financing and provide high value financial guarantees at a rather early stage of the project) may prove challenging for many developers, especially those relying on debt financing (which is very common in this type of projects). Thus, securing project financing from financial institutions is a complex process involving many critical steps which must be fulfilled to obtain disbursement of funds. Also, specific circumstances of each project, legislative grey areas or administrative blockages may trigger unexpected delays. The new Draft Grid Regulation and Draft Licensing Regulation appear to be even more demanding than the Prior Draft Regulations, at least as regards the financial requirements.

Romania needs new energy generation capacities fast and the market seemed to be moving in this direction already. It remains to be seen whether the new rules (when adopted) will effectively accelerate this trend, as intended.