The National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) has adopted a new Regulation for the authorization of economic operators in the natural gas sector, which involves higher technical standards, new categories of authorizations and clearer responsibilities for general contractors.
It repeals and fully replaces Order no. 132/2021 with subsequent amendments and supplements and brings substantial changes regarding market access conditions, personnel and technical equipment requirements, the typology of authorizations and the rules applicable to general contractors.
“The regulation brings a method of approaching the way in which works in the natural gas field will be able to be executed: the ANRE authorization must certify a real capacity to execute works safely, increasing personnel requirements, introducing the obligation of authorized welders in the operators’ own structure and clarifying the general contractor regime are measures that serve a single objective: every meter of natural gas pipeline in Romania should be executed by someone who has the competence, the team and the equipment to do it well, safely. The predictability of the rules and the real quality of the authorized operators are the cheapest safety instrument we have at our disposal,” says ANRE President George Niculescu.
The new regulation introduces two types of authorizations that did not exist before, covering a category of infrastructure with increasing strategic relevance: PGNLT – for the design of LNG terminal installations and EGNLT – for their execution.
The expansion of the authorization nomenclature reflects the accelerated development of the liquefied natural gas infrastructure at national and European level and ensures an adequate regulatory framework for operators working in this specific segment.
One of the most significant regulatory policy signals in the new regulation is the return to the requirement to prove the minimum staff structure by ratio per employee from REGES at the time of submitting the authorization application – abandoning the declarative mechanism introduced by Order no. 7/2023, which allowed proving the staff at the latest at the first work.
The logic of the regulator is that the authorization must reflect a real capacity, not a potential one.
The new regulation also raises the minimum threshold of authorized installers for all types of execution authorizations from 2 to 3, applicable to EPI, ET, EDSB, EDIB, EGNL, EGNLT and EIH authorizations. This change aims to increase the real technical capacity of authorized operators and reduce the risk of overloading the minimum staff on simultaneous construction sites.
The new regulation significantly expands the mandatory documentation when submitting the authorization application, introducing three new requirements of a general: curriculum vitae for the management team and for the personnel with the role of coordinating the authorized activity – an element of transparency regarding the operator’s management competence; written statements of the authorized installers by which they confirm the agreement to use their authorization in favor of the requesting economic operator – eliminating ambiguities regarding the actual affiliation of the personnel; declaration regarding compliance with Law no. 319/2006 on occupational safety and health – explicit commitment regarding the protection of workers on the construction site.
The new regulation introduces an article dedicated to the general contractor regime – a significant legislative gap in the previous framework. The provisions establish: the general contractor who holds or does not hold an ANRE authorization may subcontract natural gas works exclusively to ANRE authorized operators and only with the consent of the beneficiary; the general contractor is obliged to coordinate the works through an employee of his own who holds the status of ANRE authorized installer, with the type of authorization corresponding to the works; the general contractor is jointly and severally liable with the subcontractor for the works design, execution and operation carried out.
The document also clarifies the regime of verification and revision works of natural gas facilities, establishes that documents (record sheets) are issued in the name of the general contractor even if the work is subcontracted and defines the minimum mandatory content of the subcontracting contract.
