State-controlled hydropower producer Hidroelectrica SA won the lawsuit against Romania’s Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), according to its press release. The watchdog had banned export of electricity and fined the company for its trade in Hungary from December to February, Romania Journal’s website reported.
Hidroelectrica was selling power on a centralized, transparent and competitive platform operated by Tradition Financial Services Ltd., while under obligation to trade on Opcom platform in Romania, ANRE’s document said. According to Euro Insol, the insolvency administrator of Hidroelectrica, the interpretation violates the principle of free movement of goods within the European Union, the report said.
The moment the sentence sets into force, any manufacturer, whether it is called Hidroelectrica, Nuclearelectrica or Oltenia, will be allowed to directly export power on contracts on any of the markets of the EU member states, the company’s trustee Remus Borza said. He added Hidroelectrica has exported 15 MWh, after which ANRE issued a penalty and warning, with supply license withdrawal. State companies were thus deprived of trading for two years, the article adds.
