Romania’s energy regulator is beginning to see the effects of measures designed to weed out speculative projects and bring more mature renewable energy investments into operation, ANRE President George Niculescu said at an event organized by InvesTenergy.
Speaking about changes introduced by the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) to connection and licensing rules, Niculescu said higher financial guarantees were already having an impact on the large pipeline of projects seeking access to Romania’s electricity grid.
ANRE increased the connection guarantee from 5% to 20% of the value of the connection investment, while additional guarantees were introduced for obtaining or extending establishment authorisations. According to Niculescu, the goal is to distinguish serious investors from developers holding projects mainly for speculative purposes.
“By introducing these guarantee requirements, investors who do not have a genuine intention to connect their projects and turn the megawatts that exist only on paper into megawatts producing and delivering electricity to the system are giving up these projects,” Niculescu said.
Over the past three months, around 133 connection applications have expired, he said. At the same time, the regulator has continued to receive a significant number of applications from developers willing to provide the required guarantees.
Niculescu said that a proper assessment of the measures would be possible approximately one year after their introduction, when ANRE expects to have a clearer picture of how much speculative capacity has been removed from the pipeline.
He said that ANRE has also licensed more than 1,250 MW of new capacity over the same three-month period, he said. These are projects that have reached a more advanced stage of development and have obtained the necessary approvals from network operators as well as their operating licences from ANRE.
“Without distribution networks that are properly strengthened and developed, these things simply cannot happen,” Niculescu said, arguing that investment in distribution infrastructure needs to accelerate significantly.
He pointed to a substantial gap between Romania and other European countries in distribution-network investment.
“I continue to consider the regulatory framework to be a good and stimulating one,” he said, while acknowledging that distribution companies may disagree with that assessment. “Yet we are not seeing investment in distribution networks at the level that should be expected.”
Another major regulatory initiative under preparation is the licensing of energy trading activities, which ANRE intends to introduce from 2027.
Niculescu said the initiative should not be viewed as an attempt to add another layer of bureaucracy, but rather to professionalise energy trading and increase individual accountability.
Under the proposed framework, individuals responsible for trading activities would themselves need to be licensed. ANRE would also establish a register showing the individuals authorised to perform such activities and whether their licences had ever been suspended because of misconduct.
Niculescu argued that this would increase accountability, particularly in cases involving suspected market manipulation.
“When we investigate market manipulation, sanctions are directed at a company, even though the person who actually entered the buy or sell order that caused the manipulation may have acted improperly,” he said.
A licensing system for individuals would make it easier to identify those responsible for trading decisions and, according to Niculescu, would contribute to a more professional and accountable energy market.
“We consider this a measure of professionalisation and responsibility,” he said.