The Romanian Parliament has recently adopted Law No. 159/2026 (“Law 159/2026” or “the Law”) for the amendment and supplementation of Law No. 268/2001 (“Law 268/2001”) on the privatization of companies that manage state-owned public and private land designated for agricultural use and the establishment of the National Authority for the Administration of State Domains, Fisheries, and Aquaculture (“ANADSPA”). The Law entered into force on 23 July 2026.

1. Key novelties brought by Law 159/2026

The Law was adopted to implement Directive EU/2023/2413 which amends the Renewable Energy Directive (“RED III”), a first and essential step in this regard having been taken under Government Emergency Ordinance No. 59/2025 (“GEO 59/2025”) for the amendment and supplementation of certain regulatory acts in the energy sector, among which Government Emergency Ordinance No. 163/2022 (“GEO 163/2022”), which laid down the general framework for the transposition of RED III into Romanian law.

(a) Specific designation of RES Acceleration Areas

GEO 59/2025 introduced, in accordance with RED III, the concept of “renewables acceleration areas” defined as a specific location or area—whether on land, at sea, or in inland waters, designated as particularly suitable for the installation of renewable energy power plants.

Furthermore, pursuant to GEO 59/2025, (i) by 31 December 2025, the competent ministry (i.e., the Ministry of Energy), together with other designated ministries and authorities, were required to conduct a coordinated mapping to identify the domestic potential and available areas for the development of renewable energy projects necessary to meet at least the national targets for 2030, and (ii) based on this mapping, by 31 December 2026, the Government was required to approve, by Government Decision and upon the proposal of the Ministry of Energy, the plan or plans for designating the renewables acceleration areas for one or more types of renewable energy sources.

Based on the available information, none of these objectives has been achieved yet. In this context, Law 159/2026 takes a step forward by designating as renewables acceleration areas (“RES Acceleration Areas”): public and private state-owned lands administered by ANADSPA that can be used to reach the specific renewable energy targets and which are not serviced by land improvement infrastructure. Three categories of such lands eligible to be designated as RES Acceleration Areas have been predefined:

– class IV and V agricultural lands that cannot be used for agriculture, according to soil and agrochemical studies;

– degraded/unproductive land that cannot be used for agriculture;

– land located outside Natura 2000 sites, other protected areas, and major species migration routes.

(b) Derogation-based designation mechanism

As an exception from the provisions of GEO 59/2025, which stipulate that the designation of RES Acceleration Areas based on plans is made by Government decision upon the proposal of the Ministry of Energy, according to Law 159/2026 this designation is to be made by an act of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (“MADR”), and the areas thus designated are to be subsequently included in the plan designating acceleration areas to be adopted according to GEO 59/2025.

Therefore, MADR may unilaterally establish RES Acceleration Areas from among the eligible lands declared as such under Law 159/2026, which appears to be only a partial derogation from GEO 59/2025, since the designation mechanism introduced by the said ordinance should nevertheless apply to other potential designations and to the development of integrated designation plan.

(c) Criteria and exclusions

As part of the RES Acceleration Areas, land suitable for each technology must be identified based on specific criteria:

– solar resources: compact, flat land; optimal sun exposure according to information from the National Meteorological Administration; minimal obstacles; access to grid connection infrastructure;

– wind resources: adequate wind resources based on meteorological data; compliance with minimum distances between turbines and from residential areas or infrastructure;

– energy storage: flat terrain; proximity to the grid and to power plants.

Land that falls under the exclusion criteria set forth by GEO 163/2022 may not be included in the designation plans, namely: Natura 2000 sites and other protected areas; major species migration routes; historical monuments and protected built-up areas; other areas identified as sensitive based on official maps.

(d) A new concession procedure

The Law provides for a special concession regime for public and private state-owned land designated as RES Acceleration Areas, which will be implemented, by way of derogation from the procedure set forth in Articles 19–21 of Law 268/2001 and Articles 302–320 of the Administrative Code, through an open outcry auction, in line with the new procedure set forth in Annex No. 5 to Law 268/2001, introduced by Law 159/2026 (“New Concession Procedure”).

The main novelties / differences introduced by the New Concession Procedure compared to the previous procedure set forth in the Administrative Code include the following:

(i) while the Administrative Code provides for a written procedure based on bids submitted in sealed envelopes and evaluated according to several criteria, Law 159/2026 introduces an oral award procedure with a fixed bidding increment, under which the concession agreement is awarded to the applicant who offers the highest royalty, starting from the minimum royalty value. Thus, the sole award criterion is the highest royalty bid;

(ii) bidders must submit, along with their bid, a timeline for meeting the authorization requirements within 6 months of the contract signing date, accompanied by the schedule for the commissioning of the energy generation capacity;

(iii) concession contract beneficiaries are required to report and pay, on a quarterly basis, the amounts representing royalties under these contracts;

(iv) more granular deadlines are established than those set forth in the Administrative Code;

(v) the concession contract is to be concluded for an up to a 25-year initial term, which may (but is not required to) be extended for a period of up to 15 years without exceeding a cumulative 49-year period;

(vi) starting from the signing date of the concession agreement, the concessionaire must quarterly report on the progress made for meeting the authorization requirements, as well as on the fulfillment of any obligations or conditions set forth in the authorization requirements regarding the timeline presented in the technical offer of the auction, and indicating any delays relative to this timeframe;

(vii) the concession shall terminate and the agreement shall be automatically terminated, without prior notice and without court intervention, if the concessionaire has not commenced work on the investment project within the timeframe set forth in the documentation and the contract, but no later than 6 months from the contract conclusion date.

(e) The single national register of state-owned land

ANADSPA will establish and manage the Single National Register of State-Owned Land comprising all land owned by the Romanian state and managed by ANADSPA. However, the law does not impose a deadline for the establishment of this register.

2. Key provisions for energy market players

Of particular relevance to investors are the provisions regarding the accelerated authorization of projects developed in RES Acceleration Areas designated under Law 159/2026.

(a) The one-stop shop mechanism

For renewable projects developed in acceleration areas, an integrated digital permitting mechanism—a one-stop shop—is to be established, based on the Electronic Single Contact Point for Industrial Licensing (“PCUEL”), coordinated through the Office for Industrial Licensing which was introduced into legislation by Government Emergency Ordinance No. 140/2022.

Applicants can submit, track, and resolve within a single electronic system:

– all applications for permits, approvals, and authorizations required for the project;

– technical documentation and grid connection conditions;

– communications between authorities and interactions with the applicant throughout the entire process.

Issuing authorities are required to ensure the interoperability of their own IT systems with PCUEL, allowing for all procedures and decisions to be coordinated through an integrated workflow, without the need for separate submissions to multiple platforms or electronic registers.

These provisions reiterate and partially elaborate on similar provisions set forth in GEO 163/2022.

(b) Accelerated and simplified permit-granting procedure

The application of the accelerated permit-granting procedure in accordance with the provisions of Articles 16–16² of GEO 163/2022 is also expressly confirmed.

The text of the Law appears to indicate that this procedure applies to:

– obtaining the necessary approvals and permits based on the urban planning certificate;

– obtaining the environmental approval/classification decision;

– obtaining the setting-up authorization.

At the same time, environmental permitting has been simplified. The environmental authority may issue approvals and permits without conducting an environmental impact assessment (EIA) or an appropriate assessment (AA) if the project fully complies with the criteria for the acceleration area and mitigation measures, and the review indicates a negligible risk of significant unforeseen adverse effects. Additional assessments are required only in situations where the review reveals possible unforeseen significant adverse effects.

(c) Maximum 6-month permitting timeframe

The maximum timeframe for finalizing all authorization procedures, including the issuance of final approval or authorization decisions, is 6 months after the complete application has been submitted through PCUEL. This timeframe may be extended once, by no more than 6 months, under exceptional circumstances (the need for additional assessments, risks to public safety, additional information from the applicant, or force majeure events).

These provisions reaffirm the 6-month term already established by GEO 163/2022 for the authorization of projects carried out on land owned by the Romanian state and administered by ANADSPA.

(d) Tacit approval

The absence of a response from the competent authorities within the timeframe established by the applicable law shall be deemed tacit approval, according to the provisions of Article 16¹(22) of GEO 163/2022, Government Emergency Ordinance No. 31/2025 on the simplification of procedures in the field of urban planning and construction and the acceleration of investments (“GEO 31/2025”), as well as Articles 6–8 of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 27/2003 on the tacit approval procedure.

These provisions once again reaffirm the application of the tacit approval procedure, which was already made more flexible for renewable energy projects under GEO 31/2025 and GEO 163/2022.

It is important to note that, according to the provisions of GEO 163/2022, from which no exception is made under Law No. 159/2026, the tacit approval procedure applies only to the interim approvals required for authorizing the construction and operation of the renewable energy capacity, but does not apply to final decisions regarding the outcome of the authorization procedure (e.g., the building permit).

3. Potential gaps and inconsistencies in the Law

Of course, Law 159/2025 is welcome as it ensures access for investors to state-owned land and streamlined permitting facilities; however, like any piece of legislation, it leaves room for improvement.

(a) Dual designation mechanism — a potential source of deadlock

As noted above, the Law stipulates that RES Acceleration Areas are designated by an act of the MADR, to be subsequently included in the national designation plan drafted by the Ministry of Energy and approved by the Government.

This duality in designation may create procedural bottlenecks such as those experienced in the past, for instance, between MADR and the Ministry of Energy regarding the issuance of approvals for removing farmland located outside built-up areas from agricultural use.

(b) Lack of correlation with grid connection capacity

The law mentions expressly the access to grid connection infrastructure as a criterion for selecting land for designation as RES Acceleration Areas only for solar projects.

In any case, the Law was adopted at a time when the grid is already over-saturated with technical grid connection permits, covering a capacity several times higher than the total installed capacity at national level. Therefore, launching new projects depends to a significant extent on freeing up available capacity as some of the existing technical grid connection permits will expectedly expire.

(c) PCUEL interoperability — implementation risk

Competent authorities must ensure the interoperability of their own IT systems with the PCUEL. However, the Law does not set a deadline for achieving this interoperability, which may render the one-stop-shop mechanism inoperable in practice for an indefinite period following the Law’s entry into force.

(d) Limitations of tacit approval and the one-stop-shop procedure

In this regard, the Law is partially limited to reaffirming the application of certain provisions already in place under previous legislation, primarily GEO 163/2022 and GEO 31/2025, without any additional clarifications / incentives.

Also, the Law does not cover final authorizations (e.g., building permits, setting-up authorizations, or production licenses) under the tacit approval procedure, thereby limiting the benefit of this facility to preliminary and intermediate approvals. At the same time, the tacit approval does not apply if the project is subject to an EIA procedure, which limits its practical benefit given that many projects of significant capacity will be subject to an EIA.

Furthermore, the one-stop-shop procedure is defined in general terms without specifying its scope of application and without explicit cross-reference to the specific authorization legislation (e.g., ANRE’s licensing regulation), which leaves a certain degree of doubt regarding the authorizations that fall within its scope.

Cosmin Stăvaru, Partner BONDOC & ASOCIAȚII
Raluca Catargiu, Managing Associate BONDOC & ASOCIAȚII