The National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) “will not back down” in recognising in the tariffs paid by consumers any investment in cybersecurity made by Romanian energy distribution companies. However, some market operators are lobbying the government to obtain a higher rate of return than the one set by ANRE for the fifth regulatory period, said Mircea Man, the Authority’s vice-president, at the conference “Regional approach: Chisinau 2025”, organised by Energynomics.
“We don’t back away from approving and recognising in fares any investment that leads to security and superior operations. But it is the operator’s choice. I approve his investment budget, but I cannot impose it on him. Each operator knows and programmes its investments. I believe that the role of the authority is extremely important when it comes to cybersecurity, and I have said that we will approve in the tariffs any investment in this area. What we have managed to do, even though operators generally concentrate their investments in the large centres, was to extend investments to every county in Romania, precisely because we have demonstrated that investments have not been made in those areas for decades. We are finding solutions to recognise real investment in cyber security in tariffs. So, total openness,” said Man.
Romania’s energy sector is entering its fifth regulatory period, and ANRE has developed a new, evidence-based methodology in co-operation with market operators. According to Man, ANRE has set a rate of return of 6.94%, but even under these conditions, many operators are unhappy and are trying in various ways, including lobbying the government, to influence the authority’s decisions. However, consumer bearability must also be taken into account.
Man added that following a “very serious analysis” by the authority for the fourth regulatory period, it was not possible to see a significant amount of investment by operators. To incentivise them to invest, ANRE is promising companies that if they attract European funds for investment in Romania, they can receive an additional 2% bonus from the authority.
In Romania, there are currently 208,000 prosumers managing about 2,500 MW of power generation capacity. But, according to Man, the sector’s development is chaotic and ANRE could end up adopting “strong measures” to impose energy storage units in the sector. In this context, ANRE is considering abolishing the obligation to obtain a technical connection licence for renewable electricity production units, even if “some operators are not too happy”.
The conference “Regional Approach Chisinau 2025” was organised by Energynomics with the support of our partners Elektra Renewable Support, Adrem Asset Management, Boglight Gaz Moldova, Siemens Energy, Simtel, SolaX Power, SolarToday.