The Romanian Wind Energy Association (RWEA), the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association (RPIA) and the Employers’ Organization of Renewable Energy Producers in Romania (PATRES), representing members with a total installed capacity of over 6.5 GW, warn of the risk of a grid blockage in the energy sector caused by the introduction, without a transition period and with a regulatory framework still not finalized, of the new grid connection methodology.

In the current context, the system scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2026 will create the same type of problems for all energy projects over 5 MW, regardless of technology, which affects the absorption capacity of dedicated European funds, Romania’s economic competitiveness and energy security. In this context, the renewable energy industry is requesting that ANRE postpone the implementation of the auctions by up to three years, in order to allow the existing mechanisms to produce their effects and filter out unfeasible projects, blamed for network congestion.

Connecting to the National Energy System is already the main obstacle to the development of new projects due to legislative and bureaucratic barriers, but also to the lack of financing for the necessary works for the transmission and distribution system. Under the given conditions, the sudden switch from the principle of “connection in chronological order” to the auction mechanism in a market that is in full swing and in the process of maturing, affects both the realization of new investments and the implementation of existing ones, as has already happened in Spain and Portugal, as well as Romania’s ability to achieve its targets assumed at European level.

The main reason cited for introducing a new system is the pressure caused by the large number of technical connection approvals (ATR) issued, which significantly burden the network. While the existence of projects without implementation prospects is a problem, auctions, which target future capacities, would not solve the current situation. We recall that there are currently 70 GW with ATRs, of which 43 GW with valid connection contracts, and the commissioning deadlines for new requests exceed the horizon of 2030. In this context, without a period in which the existing mechanisms, in particular the guarantee system introduced in 2024 and which became fully operational this year, produce their effects, there is no space in the network that can be auctioned in the next three years. In addition to postponing the implementation of the new system, the Associations propose additional measures to make investors more accountable, which would discourage projects without implementation prospects, such as higher financial guarantees, advance payment of part of the connection tariff and strict deadlines for obtaining permits.

Renewable energy is the central pillar of decarbonization, energy security and competitiveness. In this complex economic and geopolitical context, RWEA, RPIA and PATRES call for the adoption of concrete legislative measures that would allow the realization of the commitments assumed by investors and contribute to accelerating the energy transition.