The proposed measure may fall into the category of state aid, said Bogdan Chiritoiu, president of the antitrust regulator.
Romanian producers of renewable energy benefit from government support via a green certificates scheme, which allows them to recover part of the production costs. Each renewable energy producer is granted a number of green certificates for power fed into the electricity grid. The subsidies are eventually passed onto consumers’ electricity bills.
The government recently announced that it would temporarily reduce the number of green certificates in the scheme to prevent a sharp rise in electricity prices.
The draft ordinance that would amend the existing law supporting renewable energy also stipulates large consumers would be exempted from paying half of the green certificates for the electricity consumed.
“The problem with the draft ordinance stems from the support measures for industrial consumers… We believe these measures could be viewed as state aid,” Chiritoiu said.
He said the European Commission has asked to be notified regarding a possible payment relief for industrial consumers.
“The Commission told us that no EU member has received authorization to implement such a measure so far. Austria has tried and failed, while Germany is being investigated over a similar matter,” Chiritoiu told reporters.
As Romania has one of the most generous support schemes for renewable energy in Europe, the country has attracted significant investment in the sector. However, many industrial consumers have been complaining about the high cost of electricity bills and asked for measures that would limit the impact of green certificates on energy tariffs.
Conversely, green energy producers have threatened to halt or abandon their projects in Romania if subsidies are cut.
Green investments in Romania have exceeded EUR3 billion so far, while renewable energy covers around 8% of the total electricity consumption.