The solar power producers got good news early this week after an emergency ordinance modifying the law on the support scheme for renewable energy generation was voted by the Chamber of Deputies. The only steps left are its signing by President Traian Basescu and publication in the Official Journal.
The worst fear of solar energy investors was that the authorities had announced plans to reduce the support as of early next year. Now, however, changes may occur as of January 1, 2014 at the earliest. Experts say the news should put the mind of everyone on the market at ease, as it removes any obstacles in the way of development of solar farms.
Romania has a renewable energy generation support scheme based on green certificates. Each megawatt of green power produced gets a set number of certificates depending on the technology used. Solar power is the star of this scheme, as each megawatt gets six certificates. One certificate is worth EUR27 to EUR55.
The green certificates are then bought by energy suppliers, which are required by the law to include green power in the energy supplied to consumers. The system was devised to help Romania attain certain standards it is bound to as a EU country, until 2020. Its support scheme is valid for 15 years and will only apply to those facilities that start operations until 2016 at the latest.
The problem with the solar power is that as equipment becomes significantly cheaper, granting six certificates per megawatt is no longer justified. Which is why the national energy sector regulator ANRE has recently said it is considering a reduction in the number of green certificates as of next year.
However, the Chamber of Deputies voted otherwise. Therefore, keeping overcompensation in mind, the reduction of the number of green certificates granted to green power producers will be done “no sooner than January 1, 2015, except for solar power producers, in which case the adjustment may start as of January 1, 2014.”
This means those who get their solar farms up and running until January 1, 2014 will get six certificates per megawatt for the whole 15 years of subsidy, while the rest will get fewer certificates.
“This should normally be the final version. Those who complete their solar farms by December 31, 2013 will get six green certificates. If changes are made later, they should not enforce retroactively,” said Magda Ion, the director of business development of the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association (RPIA).
In turn, Robert Cruceru, chief executive of RPIA, said the law with all its modifications was expected to be published in the Official Gazette in two weeks.
“This is a good signal. I don’t see now why there should be any problems for banks or for investors. This support is enough for an investor to come to Romania and the interest is there. The market is active and I think we shall see solar power project deals soon,” Cruceru said.
Experts say solar power is where the next green energy boom will be after the more than EUR2 billion investments in wind farms. Although the operational capacity of photovoltaic power stations stands at merely 2 MW at the moment, national grid company Transelectrica data reveal 88 solar projects already had grid connection contracts signed by early June, which is one of important steps of such an investment. The capacity stands at over 407 MW, which means over EUR800 million investments.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)