Please see below what persisted, what is new or amended and what was excluded.
Persistent Provisions
A study will be performed by the Ministry of Energy which will establish, among other, the offshore blocks, the potential route/s for the injection of the produced electricity into the grid and provisions regarding a state aid scheme to be further structured and implemented. The offshore blocks will be established by considering their wind energy potential, the future maritime activities to be performed as well as national security restrictions.
The exploitation of offshore wind energy will be based on the conclusion of a concession agreement with the Ministry of Energy according to public tender procedures. The concession agreement may be concluded for a maximum of 30 years with the possibility of prolonging it, only once, for another 10 years.
The fees of the concession agreement that will be paid by the beneficiary are as follows:
(i) annual royalty;
(ii) tax for the concessioned surface and the connection cable surface;
(iii) a financial guarantee;
The amounts of the above fees will be established by 30 June 2025.
For the constuction of the offshore wind plant, the following permits are necessary:
(i) Set Up Permit from the national energy regulatory authority (ANRE);
(ii) Development approval from the of petroleum offshore authority (ACROPO);
The development approval is issued on the basis of various documents, such as technical documents, administrative acts of various authorities, permits and statements.
In 12 months from the issuance of the development approval, the Beneficiary is obliged to start the construction works, which have to be finished in 5 years from the issuance date.
For the construction works to be performed on land (for example, connection works), a building permit will have to be obtained from ACROPO.
For the connection of the offshore wind plant, the Beneficiary must obtain a technical connection approval (ATR) from Transelectrica. In this respect, Transelectrica will perform studies to assess the potential impact of large amounts of offshore wind energy on the national energy grid starting with the 1st of January 2025, the results of which will impact the terms and conditions of the ATR.
After the completion of the works, the Beneficiary must obtain a production license from ANRE according to Energy Law 123/2012.
Also, the Draft Offshore Law establishes, in the favour of the Beneficiary, the possibility to obtain, for the construction and exploitation of the wind plant, the necessary easements rights on private property lands owned by natural persons, companies or the State. A compensation established through an agreement or a court decision must be paid for these rights.
Amended or New Provisions
The beneficiary of the concession agreement may apply for a state aid scheme awarded by the Ministry of Energy if the offshore production capacity will be put into function in maximum 8 years from the conclusion of the concession agreement, formerly the capacity had to be of at least 3 GW.
Until the 31st of December 2024, ANRE will issue ATR templates for offshore wind capacities.
The annual royalty will only have to be paid for the exploitation period of the concession agreement, formerly the exploration had to also be paid.
The definitions of the offshore block and of prohibited areas were amended.
A new tax for the blocks located on the area managed by the National Romanian Waters Administration will have to be paid annually by the beneficiary of the concession agreement.
A new permit will have to be obtained from the Ministry of Defense for the works that require the help of divers.
Excluded Provisions
The Draft Offshore Law does not mention anymore the establishment of a security commission for the safe exploitation of offshore wind.
Various details regarding the envisaged state aid scheme were removed from the Draft Offshore Law, currently existing only the general idea that a state aid scheme will be further developed.