The eastern European country implemented an incentive scheme supporting renewable energy in 2004, when it opted for a mandatory quota system combined with the trading of green certificates.
Under the green certificates system, each renewable energy producer is granted a number of green certificates for power fed into the electricity grid. These green certificates are tradable on competitive markets.
Four years later, an improved incentive scheme was regulated through law 220/2008. However, the new regulations could not be applied, because the incentives could be regarded as state aid, subject to EU approval.
A secondary legislation for the application of law 220/2008 was drafted in 2010, after consultations with European Commission staff. The draft act was approved by Romanian Competition Council and was sent to Brussels for examination.
One of the new features of the draft secondary legislation is its provision of a “safety net” for the excess of green certificates. Additionally, the new act limits the number of certificates for a series of technologies, such as geothermal energy, biomass, bioliquids or biogas.