“Currently, wind energy investors in Romania are required to obtain some 85 permits and authorizations in order to initiate and implement a project. This excessive bureaucracy, as well as the long response times of the local authorities, means it takes 2-3 years to pass from the initiation phase of a project to implementation,” according to the survey.
Although the situation appears likely to hold foreign investors back, statistics show that in fact Romania fares much better than many other European countries, with bureaucracy in Romania being thinner than the EU average.
According to the European Wind Energy Association data regarding the total average time between applying for the construction permit and connection to the grid, Romania appears to be ahead of the game with an average process time of around 32 months, compared with the EU average of 54.8 months, the survey conducted by TPA Horwath and Schoenherr also reads.
But this is not the only criterion which shows that although it takes quite a long time to get the necessary permits, the situation in Romania is better than in other European countries.
“Another criterion of comparison is the number of officials whose involvement is needed to implement an investment. The average among the 27 EU Member States is 18 officials, which indicates that the “single counter” model is not excessively popular in the renewable energy sector,” the survey reads.
“Even the most wind industry-friendly countries, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain, which boast the lowest values (5, 6 and 10 officials, respectively), are still nowhere near this concept. In this respect, Romania is better than the EU average, with an investor having direct or indirect contact with an average of 13 officials.”
So, considering all the advantages of the local market, Romania has in the last few years become one of the most promising markets for the development of renewable energy, especially wind energy.
According to the survey, the capacity of wind power stations had increased to 462 MW at the end of 2010, 33 times higher than at the end of 2009, when Romania had an installed capacity of just 14 MW. Thus, Romania recorded one of the fastest growth rates in the sector in the EU.
“At the end of the first half of 2011, 570 MW were operational, with wind power capacity set to reach 1,000 MW by the end of the year,” the survey also reads. At the end of 2011, Romania could have operational wind farms with a capacity higher than the installed capacity (around 700 MW) of a reactor of Romania’s Cernavoda nuclear power plant.
(English version by Daniela Stoican, Editing by Bogdan Neagu)