CfD Scheme For Renewables To Go Live In 2024

• Published date: 01 April 2024
• Law Firm: Schoenherr Attorneys at Law
• Author: Ms Monica Cojocaru, Vlad Cordea and Cristina Olariu

In March the European Commission approved a EUR 3bln (RON 15.22bln) Romanian scheme to support installations producing electricity from onshore wind and solar photovoltaic. The approval relates to an initiative launched for consultations by the Ministry of Energy in August 2023, aimed at implementing a Contracts for Difference (CfD) support mechanism for low-carbon technologies (the "CfD Scheme").

In the wake of the Commission's approval, the Romanian Government published for consultations a draft decision enacting the general framework for the CfD Scheme, as well as a template CfD contract. Interested parties were invited to submit observations until 25 March.

Who can apply?

As anticipated in our earlier newsletter, the CfD Scheme will only be available for new generation capacities, i.e. capacities that have not been commissioned prior to the submission of the funding application. Further details regarding the "new project" criteria will be set out in the subsequent orders for the initiation of the CfD auctions.

The scheme is designed to support a broad range of technologies, all falling in the low-carbon emissions ambit. These include onshore and offshore wind, solar photovoltaic, hydro, nuclear, hydrogen technology and energy storage technologies.

The first rounds of CfD auctions are dedicated to eligible onshore wind and solar photovoltaic projects, as part of the 15-year CfD Scheme for which the Commission approved EUR 3bln from the Modernisation Fund. The auctions will be organised in 2024 and 2025 and, according to public statements, will target 2 GW of onshore wind and solar projects in 2024 and 3 GW in 2025.

Detailed eligibility criteria for...