Romania allows prosumers to install photovoltaic panels in multiple locations

The Government of Romania adopted an executive order to make it easier for prosumers to connect solar panels to the distribution grid and allow them to consume the output in locations other than where they installed their photovoltaic facility. They will also be allowed to set up small solar power facilities in several locations.

Romania is undergoing substantial legislative reforms to boost the deployment of renewables on all fronts, from planning to enable the construction of offshore wind farms to improving the grid and funding pilot projects for green energy. One of the goals of the ongoing energy transition efforts, which include nuclear power projects, is to increase energy independence from Russian fossil fuels. It’s a race against time, not least because deadlines for grants from the European Union are tight.

One of the pillars is the prosumers segment of the market. Equipping the system so that it can integrate tens of thousands of small distributed electricity sources is a tool for a substantial rise in production in the green energy sector. The government has just adopted another in a string of measures to simplify the procedure for setting up solar panels for self-consumption.

Just one notification to distributor

According to information obtained by the domestic media and an earlier statement from Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu, prosumers will only need to notify the distributor to be able to install solar panels of up to 10.8 kW in capacity.

The decree transposes the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive RED 2

The company can still reject the connection if it offers a justified reason, but only within 15 days, and it must propose an alternative connection point, Economica.net reported. Otherwise, it will be obligated to connect the facility in one month at the latest after receiving the notification.

The rule was adopted as part of a new executive order, which hasn’t yet been formally published. The Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) was given six months to introduce the procedure. The so-called urgent ordinance transposes the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive RED 2.

Prosumer doesn’t have to use their electricity at photovoltaic system’s location

Furthermore, prosumers will get the right to install photovoltaic panels in several locations and consume the energy at a different place from where it is produced. The condition is to have a single supplier and for the facilities to be within the territory of the same distribution company.

When households, businesses or institutions have a power source for their own consumption, usually photovoltaics, they are called prosumers as they both produce and consume electricity.

In a stricter sense, prosumers use power from the grid when they produce too little for themselves while they deliver excess energy to the network when the output is too big for their needs. In the latter case, home batteries or electric vehicles can become an important part of the equation, especially when there is an option to sell the surplus at a higher tariff.