Law No. 159/2026, published in the Official Gazette on 20 July, introduces a dedicated procedure for the concession of state-owned agricultural land administered by the National Authority for the Administration of State Estates, Fisheries and Aquaculture. The key change is the explicit inclusion of land designated as areas suitable for the accelerated development of renewable energy projects within a separate concession mechanism. The law also approves the procedure for organising public auctions by open bidding to conclude contracts.

Not all state-owned agricultural land automatically falls within the new scheme. Sites must be identified and designated as areas suitable for the accelerated development of renewable energy projects. The location, area, cadastral status and specific conditions will be made public upon the publication of the tenders. The procedure offers developers competitive access to land administered by a single concessionaire. In the case of private properties, establishing a comparable site may involve contracts covering several plots.

Winning the tender confers the right to use the land in accordance with the terms of the concession agreement. Planning permission, environmental assessment and connection to the grid remain separate procedures.

The adoption of this legislation is linked to the broader reform under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) concerning the use of state-owned land to accelerate investment in renewable energy. The reform includes, separately from Law No. 159/2026, the inventory of state-owned land, the designation of priority areas, the digitisation of the authorisation process and the organisation of the first tenders. The European framework is set out in RED III, which requires Member States to identify areas favourable to the development of renewables and to give priority, amongst other things, to degraded land and areas already affected by economic activities.