ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Miruna Suciu, Suciu Partners
ity, location or environmental footprint of a project may trigger additional reviews or the need to obtain revised permits, approvals or licences, whereas less significant changes can often be addressed through simpler amendment procedures before the competent authority without requiring the entire approval process to be repeated. 3.4 Eminent Domain, Condemnation and Expropriation Rights to Construct and Operate Generation Facilities As a rule, developers of electricity generation facilities do not benefit from broad eminent domain or expro- priation powers for the acquisition of land required for their projects, meaning that project developers must secure the necessary surface rights through pri- vate arrangements with landowners or through rights granted by public authorities where publicly owned land is involved. In practice, land rights are commonly secured through ownership, superficies rights, lease agreements, concession arrangements or other rights recognised under Romanian law, where the selected structure usually depends on the nature of the project, the characteristics of the land and financing require- ments. Where privately owned land is required, com- pensation is determined by agreement between the parties, meaning the amount is generally market-driv- en and depends on factors such as location, land cat- egory, duration of the rights granted, and the extent of the restrictions imposed on the landowner. Expropria- tion is generally available only for projects declared to be of public utility and is carried out by the competent public authorities in accordance with the applicable legal framework, where fair and prior compensa- tion must be paid to the affected owners, who can challenge the value of the compensation before the courts where they consider that the amount offered does not adequately reflect the value of the property or the rights affected, while generation projects also frequently require easements, access rights and rights relating to connection infrastructure, which are usually obtained through contractual arrangements or spe- cific statutory mechanisms. 3.5 Decommissioning a Generation Facility The decommissioning of a generation facility is sub- ject to the applicable energy, environmental, construc- tion and land-use legislation, meaning that, depend-
ing on the technology involved, operators may be required to dismantle the facility, restore the site and comply with any environmental remediation obliga- tions imposed by the competent authorities. Environ- mental permits and other project-specific approvals may contain explicit decommissioning requirements, including obligations relating to waste management, recycling, site restoration and monitoring, while addi- tional requirements may apply to facilities located in protected areas or subject to specific environmental conditions. Romanian law does not generally impose a uniform obligation to establish a dedicated decom- missioning fund for all generation facilities throughout their operational life, but specific obligations may arise under sector-specific legislation, financing arrange- ments, concession agreements, environmental per- mits or support schemes, meaning that lenders and investors increasingly require developers to address decommissioning costs and end-of-life obligations as part of early project planning and risk allocation. 4. Transmission Lines and Associated Facilities 4.1 Constructing and Operating Transmission Lines and Associated Facilities The ownership, construction and operation of trans- mission facilities are primarily governed by Electricity and Natural Gas Law No 123/2012 and the second- ary regulations issued by ANRE, alongside additional requirements arising under construction, urban plan- ning, environmental protection and land-use legisla- tion. Transmission activities are carried out by Transe- lectrica as the Romanian transmission and system operator, and the development of new transmission infrastructure is subject to regulatory oversight, form- ing an integral part of the transmission network devel- opment planning process. Environmental reviews are required depending on the characteristics and loca- tion of the project, meaning that transmission projects are commonly subject to environmental screening procedures and, where applicable, full environmental impact assessments, Natura 2000 assessments or other specialised technical studies.
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