The Grid Connection – Still a Bottleneck for Renewable Electricity Projects in Romania?

On 31 December 2021, Emergency Ordinance no. 143/2021 amending Electricity and Natural Gas Law no. 123/2012 and amending certain regulatory acts (“GEO 143/2021”) was published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 1259 and entered into force. GEO 143/2021 is intended to transpose into national law Directive (EU) 2019/944 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU (“Directive 944/2019”).

Although GEO 143/2021 has already been in force since 31 December 2021, mention should be made that, according to Romanian legislative procedures, GEO 143/2021 (like any other Government emergency ordinance) is subject to the approval of the Romanian Parliament. Currently, a draft law has been adopted by the Romanian Senate, which should subsequently be adopted by the Chamber of Deputies.

According to GEO 143/2021, within 6 months from the date of its entry into force, the National Energy Regulatory Authority (“ANRE”) must adapt, where necessary, the secondary legislation in line with the provisions of GEO 143/2021. ANRE has already approved key amendments to secondary legislation aimed at implementing GEO 143/2021.

This article presents the main novelties regarding the connection to power grids of public interest brought under Order no. 17/2022 amending the Regulation on users’ connection to power grids of public interest, approved under Order of ANRE President no. 59/2013 (“Order 17/2022” and “Regulation”). Substantial changes were also made under (i) Order no. 18/2022 approving the Procedure for connecting consumption places belonging to household customers to the low-voltage power grids of public interest (“Order 18/2022”) and (ii) Order no. 19/2022 approving the Procedure for connecting to power grids of public interest the consumption and production places belonging to prosumers (“Order 19/2022”).

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