Legal guide to standalone BESS projects in Romania, covering land, permitting, fire safety, grid import/export, ANRE licensing, market participation and bankability.
Standalone BESS projects in Romania are regulated electricity assets. Investors should test land rights, permitting, grid connection, ANRE authorisations, operating licences, revenue strategy and bankability before.
Executive answer
Standalone BESS projects in Romania are regulated electricity assets. Investors should test land rights, permitting, grid connection, ANRE authorisations, operating licences, revenue strategy and bankability before treating a project as financeable.
Standalone BESS is becoming one of the most important energy investment themes in Romania.
For years, storage was discussed mainly as an accessory to solar or wind. In 2026, that has changed. Standalone battery energy storage systems are now being developed as independent infrastructure assets, with their own land, ATR, grid connection, ANRE authorisation, operating licence, revenue model and financing logic.
The legal question is no longer:
“Can batteries be added to a renewable project?”
The real investor question is:
Can a standalone BESS project in Romania be permitted, connected, licensed, financed and monetised as an independent regulated electricity asset?
The answer is yes — but only if the project is structured correctly from the beginning.
Investor reading map
| First question | Is the asset legally permitted to exist as a standalone storage project? |
| Second question | Does the grid connection allow the commercial model that the investor is pricing? |
| Third question | Are ANRE licensing, market participation and financing assumptions aligned? |
1. Executive summary
A standalone BESS project in Romania is not a normal real estate project, and it is not simply “equipment on land”.
It is a regulated electricity asset.
A bankable standalone BESS project should normally have:
| Layer | What must be checked |
| Corporate | Clean SPV, no hidden development obligations, no undisclosed grid or land claims |
| Land | Secure land rights for BESS containers/building, transformer station, access road, cable route and safety perimeter |
| Permitting | Certificate of urbanism, environmental decision/agreement, building permit, fire safety pathway, grid-related permits |
| Grid | ATR, grid connection agreement, clear import/export capacity, connection tariff, guarantees, reinforcement risk |
| Capacity allocation | Whether the project falls under the 2026 auction mechanism for ≥5 MW storage |
| ANRE | Establishment authorisation if above threshold; standalone storage operating licence before commercial operation |
| Technical | Grid code, SCADA, telemetry, metering, protection, dispatchability, safety certification |
| Revenue | Arbitrage, imbalance optimisation, balancing services, ancillary services, portfolio optimisation, capacity/flexibility support |
| State aid | Modernisation Fund / CISAF / grant conditions, if applicable |
| Transaction | Change of control, asset transfer, FDI, financing, step-in rights, EPC and OEM bankability |
The main point is this:
A standalone BESS project is valuable only if the battery can legally charge, discharge, connect, participate in markets and capture the revenue assumed in the financial model.
3. What is a standalone BESS project?
A standalone BESS is a battery energy storage project that is not merely an accessory to a specific solar or wind power plant.
It is independently connected to the grid and usually has its own:
This is different from a co-located BESS.
| Type | Legal logic |
| Co-located BESS | Storage added to or integrated with a PV/wind project, often at the same grid connection point |
| Standalone BESS | Independent storage installation, capable of charging from and discharging into the grid |
| Behind-the-meter BESS | Storage located at a consumption site, used for self-consumption, peak shaving or flexibility |
| Hybrid cluster | Combination of PV/wind plus standalone or co-located storage under a wider commercial strategy |
RED III defines “co-located energy storage” as a storage installation combined with a renewable energy plant and connected at the same grid access point. This distinction is commercially important because a standalone BESS has a different permitting and revenue profile from a storage unit added to an existing renewable plant.
5. Permitting a standalone BESS project in Romania
A standalone BESS project usually follows a permitting path similar to an industrial energy facility, but with additional safety and grid-specific issues.
5.1 Land rights
The first question is whether the project company has the right land.
A standalone BESS usually needs land for:
Legal DD should check:
Real case: A BESS developer secures the plot for the containers, but not the cable route to the 110 kV station. The project is not bankable. For BESS, connection route is not a secondary issue. It is part of the asset.
5.2 Certificate of urbanism
The certificate of urbanism is the starting point for construction permitting.
For BESS, the CU should be reviewed carefully to see whether the local authority understands the project as:
The classification matters because it affects:
Real case: A developer describes the BESS as “containers”. The local authority treats it as a simple container placement. Later, the environmental authority and ISU treat it as an industrial energy storage facility. The permitting path becomes inconsistent.
5.3 Environmental permitting
Environmental review is critical for BESS, even though batteries do not generate emissions like thermal plants.
6. ANRE licensing for standalone BESS
Standalone BESS requires a different licensing analysis from PV + BESS.
Under the older licensing framework, ANRE expressly recognised a separate licence category for the commercial operation of storage installations that are not added to an existing production capacity; if storage is installed within an existing production capacity, the producer licence is modified to include the storage installation.
The current Order 6/2025 framework preserves the same basic distinction: standalone storage is a separate regulated activity, while storage added to generation capacity is handled through the production/storage authorisation and licence structure.
6.1 Establishment authorisation
For a standalone storage installation above the applicable threshold, an ANRE establishment authorisation is required.
The older regulation stated that ANRE does not issue authorisations for standalone storage installations if the maximum active power discharged into the grid is 1 MW or below, but notification obligations apply at start of works and after commissioning.
For large standalone BESS projects, the practical rule is:
If the BESS injects more than 1 MW into the grid, expect ANRE establishment authorisation.
The authorisation should match:
6.2 Operating licence
Before commercial operation, a standalone BESS project needs the relevant ANRE licence for commercial operation of a standalone storage installation.
The licence should support the intended business model:
6.3 Licence mismatch risk
This is one of the most important legal risks.
A BESS owner may think it can do “everything” once it has a storage licence. That is not always correct.
Depending on the revenue model, it may also need:
8. Grid connection issues
Grid connection is the most valuable and most difficult part of standalone BESS development.
A standalone BESS is both a consumer and a producer from a grid perspective. It imports electricity when charging and exports electricity when discharging.
Therefore, the ATR must be reviewed for both directions.
8.1 Key ATR questions
The buyer or lender should check:
Real case: A BESS project is marketed as 100 MW / 200 MWh. DD reveals the ATR allows 100 MW injection but only limited absorption, or imposes operational constraints. The project cannot perform the arbitrage strategy assumed in the model.
8.2 Connection agreement
A BESS project must have a grid connection agreement aligned with the ATR.
The GCA should be checked for:
For BESS, the GCA is especially important because connection works can be more complex where the project connects at 110 kV or near a Transelectrica substation.
El-Mor’s Bradu and Brazi projects illustrate the importance of grid location: both are planned at 203 MW / up to 800 MWh and intended to connect at 110 kV to substations operated by Transelectrica, with ATRs already obtained.
8.3 Capacity allocation for ≥5 MW BESS
From 2026, the capacity allocation mechanism becomes central.
11. Main legal risks for standalone BESS
Risk 1: The project is not actually standalone
A project may be marketed as standalone, but the documents show it is technically or legally dependent on a PV or wind project.
Check:
If the BESS cannot operate independently, it should not be priced as a standalone asset.
Risk 2: ATR covers injection but not absorption properly
For BESS, import capacity is as important as export capacity.
A project that cannot charge as assumed cannot earn as assumed.
Risk 3: Capacity allocation not secured
For projects of at least 5 MW, capacity allocation may be required. If capacity is not secured, the project is not RTB.
Risk 4: GCA not signed or connection works unclear
An ATR without a bankable GCA is not enough.
Risk 5: Fire safety underestimated
BESS fire risk can affect permitting, insurance, financing and local acceptance.
Risk 6: Revenue model assumes balancing income without qualification
A financial model based on FCR/aFRR/mFRR is not bankable unless the legal and technical qualification pathway exists.
Risk 7: Wrong licence category
Standalone storage licence is not the same as producer licence with co-located storage.
Risk 8: State aid restrictions ignored
Grant-funded BESS projects may have transfer, operation, procurement and clawback restrictions.
Risk 9: Technology change triggers permit updates
Changing chemistry, container type, PCS configuration, capacity or layout may require amendments.
Risk 10: Degradation and warranties not aligned with revenue
A 2-hour battery and a 4-hour battery have different legal and commercial risk allocation. EPC/OEM warranties must match revenue assumptions.
12. Due diligence checklist for standalone BESS
For an investor review, the diligence should be organised around a short number of decision points rather than a document dump.
| Land and access | land rights, cable route, access road, safety perimeter and substation interface. |
| Permitting | urbanism, environmental act, building permit, fire safety route and technology consistency. |
| Grid | ATR, grid connection agreement, import and export capacity, guarantees and reinforcement exposure. |
| ANRE | establishment authorisation, storage licence pathway and any additional market role. |
| Commercial model | arbitrage, balancing, aggregation, optimiser agreement, state aid and bankability of revenue assumptions. |
| Transaction protections | conditions precedent, change-of-control, grid guarantee replacement, EPC/OEM transfer and lender step-in rights. |
14. Investor conclusion
Standalone BESS in Romania is moving very quickly.
The investment case is real: renewable penetration is growing, system flexibility is scarce, price volatility creates arbitrage opportunities, balancing needs are increasing, and public support is now available for standalone storage.
But the legal complexity is also real.
A standalone BESS project must be analysed as a regulated electricity asset with four simultaneous identities:
The biggest mistake is to look only at MW/MWh.
In Romania, a standalone BESS project is not bankable because the battery exists on paper. It is bankable when the project can legally charge, discharge, connect, trade, provide services, comply with safety requirements and monetise flexibility under Romanian market rules.
That is the real due diligence test.
Related reading and services
This article is part of the Romanian energy law content cluster. For the commercial route into a mandate, start with Energy Law in Romania and the Renewable Energy Legal Services page.
How Grigorescu Partners can help
Grigorescu Partners assists investors, developers, lenders and project owners with Romanian renewable energy projects, including legal due diligence, grid connection review, ANRE licensing, PPAs, BESS structuring, EPC and O&M contracts, project acquisitions and transaction execution.
If you are assessing a Romanian renewable energy project, the useful question is not only whether the project has documents. The useful question is whether those documents work together as a buildable, financeable and monetisable energy asset.