ENERGY: NEW PROCEDURE FOR AUTHORISING EU COMPANIES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ENERGY MARKETS IN ROMANIA

Foreign companies headquartered in an EU Member State can be granted the right to participate in the electricity and natural gas markets in Romania, provided they comply with the new procedure approved by ANRE Order no. 14/2024, published in the Official Gazette no. 505 of May 31, 2024, replacing the Procedure previously approved by Order no. 91/2015.

Please find here below the main elements of the new ANRE procedure.

Confirmation of the right to participate in the electricity / natural gas markets

The decision confirming the right to participate in the energy markets in Romania is issued by ANRE, upon request by the foreign company headquartered in an EU Member State, which meets certain conditions¹, based on an application and a set of documents² submitted to the Romanian regulatory authority.

The ANRE decision confirms the foreign company's right to carry out one of the following activities:

• Supply of electricity / natural gas
• Trader of electricity / natural gas

The type of activity to be authorised under the ANRE decision depends on the type of license or similar document issued by the public authority or other authorized entity in the EU Member State where the economic operator has its registered office.

ANRE can issue a decision confirming the right to participate in the energy markets³  or refuse the application if it is found that the applicant does not meet, in whole or in part, the legal requirements of form and content.

The refusal decision shall be motivated and comprise the grounds for refusal and it can be challenged in administrative litigation at the Bucharest Court of Appeal.

The confirmation decision has an initial period of validity of maximum one year and can be successively extended for periods of maximum 5 years, provided that the total period of validity does not exceed the period of validity of the license / similar document, issued by the competent regulatory authority in the EU Member state of where the applicant has its registered office.

The application for extension of the validity period of a confirmation decision issued by ANRE must be submitted at least 60 days prior to expiry.

The operator shall ensure that the confirmation decision is at all times consistent with their actual situation and shall, therefore, submit an update request if (i) there is a change in the name and/or legal form or (ii) a change of the registered/professional headquarters or (iii) if other elements provided for in the content of the confirmation decision issued by ANRE change.

Decisions of confirmation of the right to participate in the electricity / natural gas markets issued by ANRE before the date of entry into force of the new procedure remain in force throughout their validity term, provided that the economic operators, in the 3 months from the date of entry into force of the current procedure (i.e., until August 31, 2024), produce proof of holding an account opened with the State Treasury and of having established the legal guarantee, incurring the risk to see their right to participate in the electricity / natural gas markets suspended or withdrawn.

Obligations of economic operators

The foreign legal entity having obtained the confirmation decision from ANRE has the same rights and obligations as any other holder of a license granted by ANRE for carrying out the activity.

Thus, they must, among other things:

• pay to ANRE the annual contribution established and determined by the authority depending on the turnover realized in Romania / the amount of natural gas supplied in Romania, expressed in MWh;
• establish and maintain a financial guarantee in the form of a bank guarantee letter or cash collateral, in the amount of 1 million euros, equivalent in lei, if the economic operator is a non-resident;
• submit annually on the portal of the National Energy Regulatory Authority (https:spv.anre.ro), by the end of February, the declaration containing the basis for calculating the estimated financial contribution related to the activities subject of the confirmation decision, according to the provisions of the order of the president of the National Regulatory Authority in the Field of Energy establishing ANRE tariffs and contributions.

Economic operators having the right to participate in the energy market

ANRE periodically updates on its website the list of economic operators, legal entities whose right to participate in the electricity/natural gas markets in Romania has been confirmed. The provisions of the procedure approved by the ANRE Order no. 14/2024 are supplemented by the provisions of the Regulation for granting the licenses and authorizations in the electricity sector, respectively with the provisions of the Regulation for the granting of establishment authorizations and licenses in the natural gas sector, approved by the ANRE Order no. 199/2022.

Notes

1. Chapter I article 2
2. Chapter II, article 6
3. In maximum 60 days since the date when the documentation sent by the applicant is deemed complete.