ANRE EUR 30/kW Guarantee Procedure 2026: Insurance, BESS and Enforcement

Direct answer

Romania's energy regulator, ANRE, has published a new draft procedure governing the EUR 30/kW financial guarantee required in connection with Establishment Authorisations for energy projects.

The draft, published for public consultation on 24 August 2026, is particularly relevant for developers and investors in Romanian solar, wind and battery energy storage projects because it addresses several practical questions left open after the introduction of the EUR 30/kW guarantee through ANRE Order no. 16/2026.

Most importantly, the draft:

For a 100 MW project, the EUR 30/kW rule translates into a EUR 3 million financial guarantee. The guarantee should therefore no longer be treated as a minor licensing formality. It can materially affect development budgets, financing capacity, insurance limits, transaction due diligence and project bankability.

What is the ANRE EUR 30/kW financial guarantee?

The guarantee was introduced in May 2026 through ANRE Order no. 16/2026, which amended the Regulation for granting licences and authorisations in the electricity sector approved by ANRE Order no. 6/2025.

Under the current regime, applicants for an Establishment Authorisation must provide a financial guarantee equal to:

EUR 30/kW × installed electrical capacity of the relevant energy capacity, based on the data contained in the grid connection approval (ATR).

For guarantees denominated in Romanian lei, the equivalent is calculated using the National Bank of Romania exchange rate applicable on the date on which the guarantee is constituted.

ANRE introduced the guarantee as part of a wider regulatory policy aimed at increasing the financial commitment of energy project developers and reducing the number of speculative projects occupying development and grid capacity without progressing towards construction.

ANRE's May 2026 reform expressly linked the new licensing guarantee with the broader objective of filtering projects that demonstrate genuine economic viability and development commitment.

Examples

The size of these amounts makes the form, duration and release mechanics of the guarantee commercially significant.

Can the ANRE Establishment Authorisation guarantee be issued by an insurance company?

Yes.

This is one of the most important practical points confirmed by the regulatory framework.

The guarantee may be constituted, subject to the applicable requirements, through:

• 1. a guarantee issued by an eligible credit institution
• 2. an instrument issued by an eligible non-bank financial institution or insurance company; or
• 3. a cash transfer under the mechanism permitted by the Regulation.

For developers, the availability of an insurance bond / insurance-backed guarantee can be particularly valuable.

A EUR 3 million or EUR 6 million guarantee issued entirely through traditional banking facilities can consume material credit capacity that might otherwise be required for:

An insurance solution may therefore allow a developer to diversify guarantee capacity and reduce pressure on banking lines.

However, the ANRE instrument is not intended to operate like a traditional indemnity insurance policy.

It must function substantially as an on-demand guarantee.

What conditions must the ANRE guarantee satisfy?

The existing regulatory framework requires the guarantee to be:

• irrevocable
• unconditional; and
• payable at ANRE's first demand.

The draft procedure develops these principles further.

The proposed model is structured so that ANRE should not need to:

From an underwriting perspective, this is important.

An insurer willing to issue the product must therefore be comfortable providing a genuine first-demand instrument rather than a policy under which payment is conditional upon prior proof of damage or liability.

Has ANRE published a model insurance bond / guarantee wording?

Yes.

The draft Procedure includes a proposed form of:

Irrevocable and Unconditional Financial Guarantee Payable on First Demand.

The template expressly contemplates issuance by either a credit institution or an insurance company.

This is commercially significant because the market now has a regulatory benchmark against which:

Importantly, the Procedure describes the annexed instrument as a model that may be used.

On the current wording, the better interpretation is therefore that ANRE has proposed a model rather than mandatory word-for-word drafting.

Nevertheless, it would be helpful for the final Procedure to state expressly that alternative wording is permitted where the instrument preserves all mandatory legal characteristics and provides ANRE with equivalent protection.

Such clarification would make underwriting materially easier, particularly for international insurance groups operating with standard guarantee templates.

How long must the ANRE guarantee remain valid?

This is one of the more commercially relevant elements of the new proposal.

Under the draft Procedure, the guarantee would generally need to remain valid for:

the requested validity period of the Establishment Authorisation plus an additional 12 months.

The same approach is contemplated for extensions or renewals of Establishment Authorisations.

The policy rationale is understandable: ANRE needs sufficient time after the relevant licensing period to determine whether the circumstances for enforcement or release have occurred.

However, the proposed 12-month tail may be material for large projects.

For example, keeping a EUR 6 million guarantee facility outstanding for an additional year can affect:

The question is therefore not simply whether an additional period is justified, but whether 12 months represents a proportionate period for the administrative purpose concerned.

This is one of the issues that may benefit from further clarification during the public consultation.

Do existing Establishment Authorisations have to provide the EUR 30/kW guarantee?

An important misconception is that projects holding an Establishment Authorisation issued before the May 2026 reforms are necessarily permanently grandfathered.

They are not.

Article III of ANRE Order no. 16/2026 expressly provides that where an Establishment Authorisation was issued before the new regime entered into force, a subsequent request to extend its validity is conditional upon constitution of the financial guarantee.

Evidence of the guarantee must be submitted together with the extension application.

This makes Establishment Authorisation expiry dates particularly important for existing portfolios.

A developer acquiring or financing an older project should therefore review at least:

For transactions, this should be incorporated into regulatory due diligence rather than treated as a post-closing administrative matter.

How does the new ANRE proposal apply to BESS projects?

The treatment of battery storage is one of the most important elements of the August 2026 proposal.

Co-located BESS

The draft proposes an exemption for:

storage installations added to electricity generation capacities at the same production/consumption site.

In practical terms, this could apply to structures such as:

• solar PV + BESS
• wind + BESS; and
• other generation projects where storage is integrated at the same site.

Where the exemption applies, the battery component would not independently generate the EUR 30/kW Establishment Authorisation guarantee.

This is potentially a significant economic benefit.

Example

Assume a project includes:

• 100 MW solar PV; and
• 50 MW BESS added at the same production site.

Subject to the final wording and the precise regulatory structure of the project, the proposed exemption could mean that the guarantee is calculated on the relevant generation capacity without an additional EUR 1.5 million guarantee solely because of the 50 MW battery component.

For hybridisation strategies, that is material.

Is standalone BESS exempt from the ANRE EUR 30/kW guarantee?

Under the current draft, apparently not.

The proposed exemption is specifically drafted for storage added to generation capacity at the same production/consumption site.

A standalone battery storage facility does not naturally fall within that wording.

Accordingly, the current reading is that:

• co-located BESS may benefit from the proposed exemption
• standalone BESS remains, in principle, within the EUR 30/kW guarantee regime.

This distinction is important for investors comparing standalone storage with hybrid or co-located development structures.

It is also a legitimate policy question.

Standalone battery projects can provide significant system benefits, including:

The final regulation would therefore benefit from either:

1. expressly confirming the treatment of standalone BESS; or 2. reconsidering whether a broader storage exemption would better reflect the role of battery storage in the Romanian electricity system.

Until the final Order is adopted, developers should not assume that standalone BESS is exempt.

How are hybrid energy projects treated?

The draft also improves the position of projects where additional energy capacities are subsequently added to an existing hybrid structure.

Where a new energy capacity is added to a hybrid project, the guarantee is calculated by reference to the installed capacity of the newly added capacity, rather than automatically recalculating the guarantee over the entire existing project.

Capacities that independently benefit from an exemption are excluded.

This is a more proportionate approach and reduces the risk of duplicate guarantees when projects evolve over time.

How does the guarantee apply to repowering?

The August proposal distinguishes between two situations.

Repowering without an increase in installed capacity

Where the repowering does not increase the installed electrical capacity reflected in the ATR, the project is proposed to be exempt from the guarantee requirement.

Repowering with an increase in capacity

Where repowering results in a higher installed capacity, the guarantee is calculated only on the incremental capacity.

The relevant amount is the difference between:

• installed capacity under the initial ATR; and
• installed capacity under the updated ATR.

Example

Initial capacity: 100 MW

Updated capacity following repowering: 115 MW

Relevant increase: 15 MW

Guarantee:

15,000 kW × EUR 30/kW = EUR 450,000

This approach is materially more proportionate than imposing a fresh guarantee over the full 115 MW.

What happens to projects supported by a Romanian CfD?

The draft contains another favourable clarification for projects benefiting from the Romanian Contracts for Difference scheme.

Under the existing regime, projects that can demonstrate constitution of the relevant CfD performance guarantee may benefit from an exemption from the ANRE Establishment Authorisation guarantee.

The August proposal clarifies that this exemption should apply to:

the entire installed capacity of the investment project benefiting from the CfD, rather than only the capacity contracted under the CfD.

This reduces the risk of unnecessary double security.

From a project finance perspective, that is a sensible development: where the developer has already provided material security to support completion of the CfD project, requiring an overlapping EUR 30/kW ANRE guarantee for the non-contracted portion of the same investment could result in disproportionate duplication.

When can ANRE enforce the financial guarantee?

Under the existing licensing regulation, the core enforcement logic focuses on project non-completion or abandonment.

Broadly, enforcement is contemplated where the holder:

1. does not complete the project and does not obtain the relevant completion acceptance documentation within the applicable validity period; or 2. abandons the project or no longer intends to pursue its implementation.

The new Procedure provides the detailed operational mechanism for enforcement.

One proposed provision, however, deserves particular attention.

Can ANRE enforce the guarantee if the Establishment Authorisation application is closed or withdrawn?

The draft Procedure proposes that the guarantee may also be enforced where:

• the Establishment Authorisation application is classified/closed; or
• the applicant voluntarily withdraws the application.

This raises a significant legal distinction.

A developer can withdraw or lose an individual administrative application without abandoning the underlying investment.

For example, an application may need to be refiled because of:

In such circumstances:

closure of an administrative application is not necessarily equivalent to abandonment of the energy project.

This matters because Article 19¹ of the licensing regulation links enforcement fundamentally to failure to complete or abandonment of the project.

A more proportionate final rule would therefore distinguish between:

procedural closure of an application

and

an unequivocal decision by the investor to abandon implementation of the project.

Automatic enforcement merely because an application was classified could create substantial financial exposure unrelated to the economic purpose of the guarantee.

For a 200 MW project, that procedural distinction can represent a EUR 6 million issue.

This is likely to be one of the most important points for stakeholders to consider during the consultation.

What if the project is delayed for reasons outside the investor's control?

Romanian regulation already recognises that a project may fail to meet its timetable for reasons that are not attributable to the developer.

Where the relevant legal conditions are satisfied and the circumstances are properly evidenced, the guarantee should not be enforced.

This is practically important in the energy sector, where project timelines can depend on third parties, including:

The lesson for developers is operational rather than theoretical:

document external delays when they occur.

A project company should not wait until the Establishment Authorisation is about to expire before attempting to reconstruct the evidentiary record.

Correspondence, formal confirmations, administrative acts and other relevant documentation should be retained systematically throughout development.

This will become increasingly important both for ANRE compliance and for transaction due diligence.

How is the guarantee released after completion?

The draft establishes a clearer release mechanism once the project has been completed.

The relevant completion acceptance protocol is central to the process.

Following submission of the required documentation, ANRE verifies compliance and the Procedure provides for release/restitution within the applicable administrative period, including a maximum 30-day processing period in the relevant circumstances.

The mechanism is important because the commercial lifecycle of a guarantee does not end merely when construction physically finishes.

Developers need certainty regarding:

For large portfolios, those timing differences can have a measurable financing impact.

What happens if the guarantee amount becomes higher than required?

The Procedure also addresses situations where an existing guarantee becomes larger than the amount ultimately required.

The applicant may, depending on the circumstances:

• reduce the guarantee; or
• maintain the higher amount.

Importantly, ANRE should only enforce the amount actually due under the regulatory framework.

This is a useful practical protection, particularly for projects whose installed capacity or configuration changes during development.

Why does the EUR 30/kW guarantee matter for project finance and M&A?

The guarantee should now form part of the standard bankability and due diligence analysis for Romanian renewable energy and BESS projects.

For an acquisition, buyer and lender review should consider:

Regulatory status

• Is an Establishment Authorisation already issued?
• When does it expire?
• Will an extension be required?

Calculation

• What installed capacity appears in the ATR?
• Is the EUR 30/kW calculation based on the correct project capacity?
• Has capacity changed following an ATR update?

Exemptions

Guarantee instrument

Enforcement risk

• Have project deadlines been complied with?
• Are there delays outside the investor's control?
• Is the evidentiary record sufficient?

Transaction economics

For a portfolio of several hundred megawatts, these are no longer peripheral questions.

They can become multi-million-euro transaction issues.

What should Romanian energy developers do now?

While the August 2026 document remains a draft, developers should already consider several practical actions.

1. Map all Establishment Authorisation expiry dates

Older authorisations may trigger the guarantee requirement when an extension is sought.

2. Calculate portfolio exposure

Apply EUR 30/kW to the relevant installed capacity and identify the total potential guarantee requirement.

3. Identify exemptions

Review separately:

4. Engage banks, insurers and brokers early

Large guarantees may require underwriting, financial information, collateral negotiations and internal approval.

5. Review guarantee wording

The new ANRE model is a useful benchmark, but market participants should ensure that any alternative wording preserves the mandatory first-demand nature of the instrument.

6. Document external project delays

Evidence should be created and preserved contemporaneously.

7. Include guarantees in M&A and financing due diligence

The guarantee affects cost, timing, liquidity and potentially transaction conditions precedent.

Coordinating legal, finance and technical workstreams

The guarantee should be managed as part of one project-control system. ANRE regulatory and licensing counsel should reconcile the authorisation, ATR, capacity calculation, issuer eligibility, wording and filing evidence. Energy M&A, due diligence and project finance advice should then allocate replacement, cost, collateral and enforcement risk in the SPA and finance documents.

For BESS and hybrid projects, battery-storage legal advice should be coordinated with technical development and bankability review and lender's technical advisory. The legal exemption analysis is only reliable if the technical configuration, installed power, grid limits and project phasing are described consistently across the ATR, authorisation file and contracts.

Where a call or refusal becomes contentious, energy disputes and regulatory litigation support should begin with the contemporaneous evidence: ANRE notifications, issuer correspondence, proof of delay, project progress and the precise decision-making record.

Official ANRE sources and legal status

ANRE published the official public-consultation page on 24 August 2026. The page links to the draft order and proposed procedure and the approval memorandum. Comments are invited for 30 days from publication.

The EUR 30/kW obligation is already part of the framework introduced through ANRE Order no. 16/2026. The operating mechanics, additional exemptions and amendments analysed above are proposals and may change before adoption. Our earlier analysis, ANRE's 30 EUR/kW Guarantee: Discipline Without Blocking Bankable Renewable Projects, explains the policy and proportionality debate that preceded the present procedure.

This article reflects official materials available on 25 August 2026. It is general information and does not constitute legal, technical, tax, insurance or financial advice for a specific project or guarantee instrument.