Romania Adopts Offshore Wind Bill, Plans to Have First Project Up and Running by 2032

April 11, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

Romania’s Chamber of Deputies has adopted the Offshore Wind Energy Bill proposed by the Ministry of Energy, setting the country on the path to having its first offshore wind project built by 2032.

Within three months from the date the new law enters into force, the Ministry of Energy will conduct a study which will inform the creation of the concession award procedure, as well as the rules on the construction and operation of offshore wind farms.

Among other things, the study will determine the maritime areas for which the Ministry of Energy will award concessions, taking into account their wind potential, grid connection possibilities, as well as the restrictions imposed by the Maritime Spatial Plan, including those on protecting biodiversity and the environment.

Based on the study, the Government will approve the selected offshore wind areas by 31 March 2025 and subsequent relevant acts by 30 June 2025. By the end of June 2025, the Government will also adopt the amount of the concession fees the offshore wind developers will pay to the state.

After this, the Ministry of Energy will initiate a competitive procedure for awarding concession contracts.

“At the pace imposed by the bill, in 2032 we will be able to have the first MW of wind energy produced offshore in the National Energy System. At the same time, the production of offshore wind energy will allow us to strengthen the Romanian industry through the domestic production of green hydrogen and value-added products based on green ammonia,” said Romania’s Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja.

The implementation of offshore wind projects in Romania involves not only the approval of the Ministry of Energy but also that of the Competent Authority for the Regulation of Operations, the Ministry of the Environment, Transelectrica, ANRE, the Ministry of Defense, and other relevant authorities, according to the Ministry of Energy.

In July last year, the Ministry of Energy published the draft law on the requirements for the development and procurement of offshore wind energy projects, under which 3 GW of offshore wind capacity would be procured and awarded Contracts for Difference (CfDs), with the CfD scheme to be developed by 2027, including the procedures for granting the concession and the exploration permit for offshore sites.

According to the estimates from the World Bank, Romania’s technical offshore wind potential is 76 GW, 22 GW of which is suitable for fixed-bottom wind turbines and 54 GW for floating.

As reported in 2020, the country’s power producer Hidroelectrica said it wanted to build an offshore wind farm with a capacity of between 300 MW and 500 MW by 2026, subject to the results of feasibility studies.

In 2022, wpd offshore, now Skyborn Renewables, revealed that it had submitted application documents to the Romanian government that contain plans for two offshore wind farms in Romania’s sector of the Black Sea.