Vlad Stoicescu, President, Association for Sustainable Fuels (ACS Centre for Sustainability)
- Introduction: The end of cheap oil and the new global order
The first-quarter 2026 edition of Energynomics finds us at a critical inflection point for the global and European energy architecture. The new dimensions of the post-crisis energy market are no longer dictated solely by the classical, predictable mechanisms of supply and demand, but rather by a brutal realignment of resource geopolitics and by externally induced shocks that European decision-makers are only now learning to manage strategically. The ongoing asymmetric conflict, the recent surgical strikes of devastating precision against extraction and refining infrastructure in states subject to international sanctions regimes (notably Iran and Venezuela), and the repeated blockage of essential maritime routes (the Strait of Hormuz in particular) have generated structural stress of unprecedented magnitude across global supply chains, with effects that are still materialising and poised to produce a broad-based industrial impact.
A rigorous analysis of this new context requires that we dismantle a fundamental myth of past decades. For a long time, the price per barrel of crude oil was kept at an artificially low level through a tacit tolerance of complex black- and grey-market systems. These parallel logistics networks and phantom fleets systematically circumvented embargoes and flooded the global market with cheap volumes, effectively acting as a covert subsidy. With the dismantling of these underground supply systems under military pressure and tightened enforcement regimes, the cheap-hydrocarbons paradigm has collapsed irreversibly. We are witnessing a profoundly disruptive and irreversible phenomenon: oil is becoming structurally uncompetitive. Burdened by the colossal costs required to militarily secure transport routes, by insurance premiums at astronomically elevated risk levels, and by the extreme volatility of benchmark quotations, the medium- and long-term trajectory of oil increasingly resembles the slow but inexorable historical decline of coal.
In this domestic and external context marked by uncertainty, the conclusion imposes itself with the force of a decision of state survival: renewable energy and green gases can no longer be viewed exclusively through the lens of climate compliance. These technologies have long surpassed the limiting paradigm of corporate ESG reporting or the dogmatic targets of the Fit for 55 package. Today, domestic green energy production represents the only viable, tangible, and long-term guarantee for national security, macroeconomic resilience, and the genuine energy independence of European states.
- Cleaned gas and green molecules: From theory to primary legislation
Decoupling from the volatility of external markets and the deep transformation of the Romanian energy system are necessarily predicated on the independence afforded by local energy production. While solar and wind energy deliver the volumes needed for the accelerated electrification of the economy, maintaining the stability of the national energy system, base-load dispatchability, and continuity of supply require the mandatory presence of green molecules. At the heart of this critical power equation lie cleaned gas (biomethane) and green hydrogen, legislatively classified under the RFNBO category (Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin). These technological solutions are the only ones capable of providing seasonal storage, decarbonising hard-to-abate industry, and efficiently balancing the grids.
From a public policy perspective, the first quarter of this year marked a major domestic success, representing a milestone victory for which the Association for Sustainable Fuels (ACS) has campaigned relentlessly. On 27 February, the Government of Romania adopted the long-awaited Emergency Ordinance for the development of the biomethane sector. This fundamental piece of primary legislation finally extracts the green gas industry from the realm of theoretical pioneering and lays the foundations of a functional, transparently regulated market in Romania.
The guiding principles of the new law are designed to unlock major investment decisions immediately. First, the normative act has established a clear legal and regulatory distinction between fossil natural gas producers and biomethane producers, removing the conceptual and administrative barriers that had been impeding the development of green projects. Second, an essential principle of fair competition and market maturity has been enshrined: grid connection costs are to be borne directly by producers. This approach entirely eliminates the risk of socialising investments into the distribution tariffs paid by end consumers, thereby forestalling populist blockages. Lastly, the recently adopted legislative framework creates solid foundations for future dedicated support schemes. These mechanisms are fundamental to ensuring an optimal balance between the substantial capital expenditure (CAPEX) required for initial development and the recurring operational costs (OPEX) over the full lifecycle of production facilities.
A complementary pillar, still insufficiently articulated in the Romanian public debate, is the Guarantees of Origin (GoO) system. Without a functional mechanism for the certification and traceability of green molecules, Romanian biomethane will be unable to access premium European markets, nor will it generate the supplementary revenue from the monetisation of sustainability attributes, revenue that is, in practice, decisive for the bankability of projects. The current state of affairs is encouraging: ANRE obtained observer status within the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) in November 2025, and the effective opening of the GoO market is scheduled for 1 January 2027, with the deadline for adopting the specific regulations set at 30 September 2026. Compliance with this calendar is not optional; any delay risks preventing Romanian biomethane producers from participating in the European green certificate market.
The transition towards a decentralised gas system with local biomethane injection also entails a profound modernisation of the network infrastructure. The digitalisation of distribution and transmission networks, through smart metering equipment at injection points, real-time gas quality monitoring, and the automation of reverse flow operations, is not a technological luxury but a precondition for market functioning. Without adequate digital infrastructure, operators cannot technically manage bidirectional injection, and the security and integrity of the networks will be compromised.
In parallel, Romania urgently requires a rigorous inventory of the national resources available for biogas and biomethane production. An up-to-date biomass cadastre, integrating agricultural waste, food industry residues, wastewater treatment plant sludge, and the organic fraction of municipal waste, constitutes the foundation of any serious capacity planning exercise. In the absence of such data, investment decisions rest on approximate estimates, which increases the risk perceived by financiers and delays capital mobilisation.
- The secondary regulation bottleneck: A call to action
Although the adoption of primary legislation represents an incontestable governmental success, the financial expertise of the market compels realism. A general law, however soundly conceived and visionary, is not sufficient in itself to provide the level of bankability required to attract corporate financing from banking syndicates and major investment funds. Financiers do not lend against mere legislative intentions or feasibility studies; they fund business models underpinned by predictable cash flows and armoured by an infallible secondary techno-regulatory framework. Without a set of clear, fully predictable, and execution-friendly secondary regulations, private capital will remain locked.
Today, the burden of execution falls not exclusively on ANRE but is distributed across multiple institutional actors. The National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), operators of strategic infrastructure (notably SNTGN Transgaz and gas distribution system operators), the State Inspectorate for the Control of Boilers, Pressure Vessels, and Lifting Equipment (ISCIR) under the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Energy, and the Committee on Industry and Services of the Parliament of Romania must all act in a coordinated and urgent manner. For biomethane and RFNBO volumes to be effectively injected into the national grids, there is an imperative need for a package of technical and commercial standards adopted under emergency procedure.
To unlock investment and ensure economic viability, the technical injection standards must align without compromise with the following four non-negotiable directions:
- Strict alignment with the European standard SR EN 16723-1. The quality of injected biomethane must be governed exclusively by the established European standards for substitute natural gases. ANRE and network operators must not invent or maintain artificial local technical barriers. The imposition of more restrictive quality parameters or supplementary regulations (the harmful practice of gold-plating) would undermine the competitiveness of Romanian producers from the outset, forcing unjustified costs for upgrading equipment.
- Establishment of the Priority Dispatch principle and mandatory reverse flow facilities. As a strategic green resource, biomethane must benefit, by law, from priority dispatch into the grid. Furthermore, to efficiently manage the seasonal surplus of locally produced biomethane (particularly during the summer months, when consumption in distribution networks drops sharply), the regulation and technical implementation of reverse flow facilities from distribution networks back to the national transmission system is absolutely mandatory. Without this technical guarantee of capacity evacuation, producers will face arbitrary curtailments and production shutdowns, thereby destroying bankability metrics.
- Recognition of European certification for injection skids (SRMP) and clear delineation of ownership/O&M. Metering, Regulation, and Delivery Stations (SRMP), commonly referred to as injection skids, must be designed and manufactured in accordance with harmonised European standards. Where equipment holds type certification and a CE declaration of conformity issued pursuant to the applicable European directives (in particular the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED 2014/68/EU) and the ATEX Directive), national authorities, including ISCIR, should not impose additional redundant authorisation procedures. This principle of mutual recognition is the cornerstone of the European single market and must be applied without exception. Concurrently, secondary regulations must delineate with precision the property boundary and the responsibility for operation and maintenance (O&M) between the private producer and the network operator, eliminating from the design phase future litigation and exposure to hidden costs.
- Implementation of a fast-track permitting mechanism. Bureaucracy and administrative inertia remain among the greatest adversaries of the domestic energy transition. Every day lost in permitting procedures translates directly into a degradation of project returns. We firmly call for the establishment of a fast-track permitting procedure that sets a maximum, monitored, and mandatory deadline of 45 calendar days for the evaluation and issuance of the Technical Connection Approval (ATR). When national security is at stake, the speed of regulatory response must reflect the urgency of the market.
- Conclusion
Romania stands today before a critical window of opportunity, with the potential to assume a leadership role that is exceedingly rare in the region. We possess a colossal agricultural potential for securing the feedstock required for biogas, a mature gas infrastructure ready to be decarbonised and, thanks to the Executive’s decision of 27 February, we now benefit from a solid foundation of primary legislation. All of these elements offer us the unique chance to become not merely a self-sufficient producer of green gases, but a net supplier of energy security for the entire eastern flank of the European Union.
The moment for technical, regulatory, and investment execution has arrived. The Government has honoured its commitment, the private sector stands ready to deploy capital, and it is now the turn of the regulatory authorities (ANRE, ISCIR, the Ministry of Energy, and the Committee on Industry) to provide the optimal framework. Through the urgent adoption of secondary regulations, we shall ensure that new production capacities do not remain mere promises but are transformed into a resilient, profitable industrial reality, guaranteed by projects with the highest degree of bankability.
