The Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) is breaking the grid congestion deadlock by introducing a competitive process for capacity allocation for power plant projects.

Investors, government authorities and network operators alike have been warning for years now that grid congestion and speculative renewable energy projects are among the top obstacles for the energy transition. Countries in Europe and beyond are racing to attract such investments with incentives, while neglecting digitalization, power lines and transformers. Romania decided to impose financial guarantees and obligate developers to compete for grid capacity.

The Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority or ANRE published a new methodology for network capacity allocation. The surge in projects, especially for wind and solar power, is eclipsing the current and planned ability to integrate them into the electricity system.

Grid capacity auctioning begins in 2026

Developers of projects bigger than 1 MW are now obligated to submit guarantees worth 5% of the connection tariff before receiving a technical connection approval.

From the beginning of 2026, firms planning to install production and consumption facilities and energy storage units of 5 MW and more will only be able to obtain grid access through auctions. Romanian transmission system operator Transelectrica has the task of publishing available capacity for each zone every year by January 15. It will determine the starting price depending on the costs of the required grid development.

Firms submit applications including the power distribution system segment by February 28 or 29. Transelectrica needs to publish a study every year by June 15, revealing the available capacity, the starting price and bidding dates. Auctions begin on July 1 for each year of a ten-year period starting with the second calendar year after the auction.

Penalties for both network operators, developers

The measures are introduced to improve predictability, according to ANRE. They include penalties for delays both for grid operators and prospective producers.

Auction proceedings will be directed to network operators for upgrade and grid expansion investments.

Of note, the Parliament of Romania voted recently to introduce an obligation for prosumers to add storage installations.