On February 17, 2026, the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) approved authorizations for the establishment of new renewable energy production capacities totaling 849.36 MW, together with storage facilities totaling 596 MW. At the same time, ANRE sent a tougher signal to the market with its unprecedented decision to temporarily suspend a permit for a developer who was unable to demonstrate project financing within the requested deadline. The objective stated by ANRE President George Niculescu in a press release is to reduce “paper megawatts” and grid bottlenecks caused by unused ATRs.

The largest establishment authorization approved in this round concerns the 550 MW photovoltaic power plant in Ogrezeni (Giurgiu), which also includes a 534 MW storage component, and is being developed by Enery through the project vehicle Baboia Solar Plant SRL. According to ANRE, this is the second largest establishment permit for an electricity producer, after the Mintia project. At the same meeting, ANRE also approved operating licenses for electricity production totaling 10 MW.

In its press release, ANRE states that, following the amendment of the Connection Regulation in the summer of 2024, “the effects have become apparent”: in 2025, ATRs totaling 9,248 MW expired. Following this logic, the three-month suspension of an establishment permit for a wind project, on the grounds of lack of proof of financing, is presented as a market disciplinary measure with a clear objective: to rapidly reduce the ratio between funded projects and “phantom ATRs,” a ratio that the head of ANRE describes as unsustainable at “12 to 1.”

In a clarification sent to e-nergia.ro (in RO), the developer of the Delești wind farm project claims that the measure is purely procedural, temporary, and reversible, and unrelated to technical, legal, environmental, or connection issues. Aukera describes CEE Delești as an investment of approximately 100 million euros, states that it has already invested over 4 million euros in guarantees and that it has undergone substantial stages of development, while also undergoing a competitive financing process with multiple offers, the delay being explained by the optimization of the capital structure and the alignment of the financing schedule with the signing of EPC contracts.