Romanian government approves offshore wind law for Black Sea power plants

On Thursday, the Romanian government approved a bill to make it easier to harness the Black Sea’s abundant offshore wind energy.

This initiative aligns with Romania’s commitments under its National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which is critical to the planned decarbonisation of the country’s energy sector. Wind energy potential, which a World Bank report estimates at 76 GW, may just be key.

“We have a huge potential, there are investments of billions of euros prepared, waiting for this new legislative framework. Now we can use this potential to produce green and cheap energy for the benefit of Romanians”, said Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

To make implementation faster, Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja has requested an emergency parliamentary procedure – a procedure that aims to secure parliamentary approval within 30 days from the start of the new parliamentary session on 1 February.

To implement their offshore wind push, the government aims to identify and approve specific offshore wind perimeters in the Black Sea eligible for concession by the end of June 2025 – a decision that will be based on an environmental study initiated by the Energy Ministry.

But energy generation from Black Sea wind is only expected to start in 2032, Burduja added.

Romania’s wind push is in line with national and broader EU targets, including the EU’s 2030 target of at least 60 GW of offshore wind and its ambitious long-term target of 300 GW by 2050.

(Cătălina Mihai | Sebastian Rotaru | Euractiv.ro)

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