Green Certificates in Romania: What They Are, Who Pays and When the Scheme Ends

Green certificates are the basis of the renewable support scheme set up by Law 220/2008: plants accredited by ANRE (Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority) receive between 0.5 and 6 certificates from Transelectrica for every MWh they deliver, and electricity suppliers are obliged to buy them and pass the cost on to consumers’ bills. The scheme has been closed to new plants since 2017 and is winding down until 2031-2032. In 2025, green certificates added an average of RON 73.1 to every MWh billed.

What a green certificate is

Law 220/2008 defines a green certificate as the title that certifies the generation of a quantity of electricity from renewable sources. The certificate is traded separately from the electricity it represents, on an organised market, and since 2017 the law has stated explicitly that it is not a financial instrument.

The mechanism has three links. Transelectrica, the transmission system operator, issues certificates every month for the electricity delivered by accredited plants, under ANRE Order 4/2015. The producer sells them on markets run by OPCOM, which also keeps the green certificate registry. Suppliers must buy a set number of certificates for every MWh sold to final consumers, and the cost ends up on the bill.

Eligible plants are hydro plants of up to 10 MW, wind and solar plants, plants running on biomass, biogas, bioliquids and geothermal energy, and plants using landfill gas or sewage gas. Hydro plants above 10 MW do not receive green certificates. The European Commission approved the scheme as state aid in July 2011, through decision C(2011) 4938, and approved later changes in 2015 and 2016.

Law 220/2008 and the amendments that reshaped the scheme

Law 220/2008 was republished in August 2010 and amended several times. Five stages matter for investors:

• 2010-2011. The republished text (Official Gazette no. 577 of 13 August 2010) set the number of certificates by technology, 15 years of support for new plants and a price between EUR 27 and EUR 55 per certificate, indexed annually. Emergency Ordinance (OUG) 88/2011 cut support for biomass, biogas, bioliquids and geothermal from 3 to 2 certificates per MWh.
• 2013-2014. For plants accredited by 31 December 2013, OUG 57/2013, approved by Law 23/2014, deferred from trading one certificate per MWh for new hydro and wind and two for solar between 1 July 2013 and 31 March 2017. It excluded from support solar plants on land that was in agricultural use on that date and required certificates to be billed separately. Government Decision (HG) 994/2013 reduced the number of certificates for plants accredited from 2014.
• 2015. Law 122/2015 excluded electricity sold at negative prices from support.
• 2017-2018. OUG 24/2017, approved by Law 184/2018, fixed the price between EUR 29.4 and EUR 35 per certificate and made certificates valid until 31 March 2032, tied the quota to a maximum impact on bills (EUR 14.5/MWh from 2022) and introduced OPCOM’s anonymous markets. It deferred two more certificates per MWh for solar plants accredited by the end of 2013 (1 April 2017-31 December 2020) and set the recovery calendar: hydro and wind from 2018 to 31 December 2025, solar from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2030.
• 2023-2025. Law 5/2023 allows certificates held in account and deferred certificates to be transferred to the buyer of an accredited plant. OUG 134/2024 exempted storage from the purchase obligation, and OUG 20/2025 exempts consumers in sectors exposed to carbon leakage or with high energy intensity from paying for certificates.

How many green certificates each technology receives

The number of certificates per MWh depends on the technology and the accreditation date. The table combines the values in Law 220/2008, as amended by OUG 88/2011, with the reductions approved by HG 994/2013 for plants accredited after 1 January 2014.

Technology	Accredited by 31.12.2013	Accredited 1.01.2014-31.12.2016	Support period
New hydro, up to 10 MW	3 GC/MWh	2.3 GC/MWh	15 years
Refurbished hydro, up to 10 MW	2 GC/MWh	2 GC/MWh	10 years
Hydro up to 10 MW, neither new nor refurbished	1 GC per 2 MWh	1 GC per 2 MWh	3 years
Wind	2 GC/MWh until 2017, 1 GC/MWh from 2018	1.5 GC/MWh until 2017, 0.75 GC/MWh from 2018	15 years
Solar	6 GC/MWh	3 GC/MWh	15 years
Biomass, biogas, bioliquids, geothermal	2 GC/MWh	2 GC/MWh	15 years
Landfill gas and sewage gas	1 GC/MWh	1 GC/MWh	15 years

Source: Law 220/2008, republished, articles 3 and 6, as amended by OUG 88/2011; HG 994/2013 (reductions of 0.7 GC/MWh for new hydro, 0.5 and 0.25 GC/MWh for wind and 3 GC/MWh for solar). GC = green certificate.

Plants in the last two rows that ANRE qualifies as high-efficiency cogeneration receive one extra certificate per MWh, as does biomass from energy crops. Plants that also received investment aid get a reduced number of certificates, set by ANRE. The support period runs from the first accreditation decision. The differences show in the 2025 figures: solar plants generated 1,599 GWh, less than a fifth of the 8,106 GWh supported, but received 55.5% of the certificates issued for the year’s output.

Who pays for green certificates and how they appear on the bill

The purchase obligation falls on electricity suppliers and on producers for their own final consumption and for consumers they supply directly. Each must buy, quarterly and annually, a number of certificates equal to the ANRE quota multiplied by the electricity delivered to final consumers, at least 50% of it on OPCOM’s anonymous centralised spot market. In 2025 the obligation applied to 117 operators, with a compliance rate of 99.95%.

The quota is set in two steps: in December ANRE publishes an estimated quota for the following year, and by 1 March it fixes the final quota for the year just ended. The calculation starts from the maximum impact allowed by law, EUR 14.5/MWh. For 2026, ANRE Order 81/2025 converted that impact at the average National Bank of Romania rate for the first 11 months of 2025 (RON 5.0370 per euro) and divided it by the weighted average spot price over the same period (RON 146.2532 per certificate), giving an estimated quota of 0.499387 certificates per MWh. The final quota for 2025 was 0.49983 certificates per MWh (ANRE Order 3/2026).

The “green certificates” line on the bill follows the same logic: the estimated quota multiplied by the electricity billed and by the weighted average spot price of the previous month. It appears separately from the energy price, and by 1 September suppliers settle the amount for the previous year against the final quota. According to ANRE, the average impact in 2025 was RON 73.1 per MWh (EUR 14.4986/MWh), or about RON 7.3 for every 100 kWh consumed.

Not all consumption pays. In 2025, 7,823 GWh were exempted, the consumption of companies eligible under the OUG 20/2025 scheme. Electricity that prosumers produce and consume on site is outside the obligation (our prosumer guide). A supplier that misses its quota pays EUR 70 for each missing certificate to the Environment Fund Administration, an amount that cannot be passed on to consumers; for 2025, six operators owed RON 3.785 million on this basis.

How green certificates are traded on OPCOM

Since 1 September 2017, certificates can be traded only between producers and operators with a purchase obligation, centrally, on markets run by OPCOM. Each certificate can be the subject of a single transaction, from producer to supplier. Trading takes place on three platforms:

• the anonymous centralised spot market for green certificates (PCSCV), the main price reference;
• the anonymous centralised forward market for green certificates (PCTCV);
• the centralised market for renewable electricity supported by green certificates (PCE-ESRE-CV), where electricity and the related certificates are sold together.

Bilateral contracts signed before OUG 24/2017 remain in force until they expire, and producers of up to 3 MW may negotiate directly with suppliers of final consumers. In 2025, 49.35% of the certificates transferred went through the spot market, 17.56% through PCE-ESRE-CV and the rest through older bilateral contracts and the forward market.

The price is set by law between EUR 29.4 and EUR 35 per certificate, converted into lei at the previous year’s average National Bank of Romania rate. In practice it sits at the legal minimum: the weighted average on the spot market was RON 145.43 in 2024 and RON 146.25 in 2025, EUR 29.40 both times, and RON 148.22 in September 2026, again EUR 29.40, according to OPCOM’s monthly report. Supply remains ample: at the end of March 2026 producers held 18,353,565 certificates available for trading, close to the purchase obligation for the whole of 2025 (21,186,869).

Where the scheme stands in 2026 and when it ends

The scheme closed to new capacity on 31 December 2016, by which time 778 producers had been accredited. At the end of 2025, 682 remained, with 4,164 MW, 465 MW less than a year earlier as support periods expire. Accredited wind capacity fell in 2025 from 2,953 MW to 2,514 MW, and refurbished hydro plants, whose support was limited to 10 years, have left the scheme entirely.

In 2025 the scheme supported 8,106 GWh, about 15% of gross final electricity consumption. Transelectrica issued 20,133,393 certificates, of which 4,179,968 were recovered deferred certificates, and producers reported about RON 3.148 billion of income from selling them, according to ANRE’s 2025 monitoring report.

The closing calendar is set by law:

• 31 December 2025: deadline for recovering deferred certificates for new hydro and wind plants;
• 31 December 2030: deadline for recovering deferred certificates for solar plants;
• 31 December 2031: end of the period covered by the purchase guarantee in Law 184/2018; support lasts at most 15 years from the first accreditation;
• 31 March 2032: the last day on which issued certificates can be traded.

The guarantee in Law 184/2018 covers all certificates expected to be issued between 1 April 2017 and 31 December 2031, deferred ones included, provided that annual final electricity consumption does not fall below the 2017-2022 average.

Green certificates and guarantees of origin: what is the difference

A green certificate is a support instrument: it creates revenue for the producer, demand comes from a legal obligation, and a plant can receive several certificates for the same MWh. A guarantee of origin is an electronic document whose sole function is to prove to a final consumer that a quantity of electricity was generated from renewable sources. ANRE issues one guarantee per MWh at the producer’s request, valid for one year from generation; in 2025 it issued 17,763,207 guarantees of origin. Market terms are explained in our renewable energy glossary.

The two systems will overlap. According to ANRE, the legal framework completed in November 2025 by OUG 59/2025 provides that guarantees of origin for electricity from plants with green certificates will no longer be used individually by producers, but cancelled by ANRE and allocated pro rata to suppliers obliged to buy green certificates; the implementing regulations were due by 30 September 2026. For corporate buyers, the guarantee of origin remains the relevant instrument, and Romania’s path into the European AIB system is covered in our analysis of guarantees of origin.

How new projects are supported today: CfDs and PPAs

Plants built after 2016 do not receive green certificates. The public instrument for new capacity is the Contract for Difference (CfD): a two-way, 15-year contract awarded by auction by the Ministry of Energy and funded with EUR 3 billion from the Modernisation Fund, with OPCOM as counterparty. The first three rounds awarded more than 4.5 GW of solar and wind, and in round two the average strike prices were EUR 40.46/MWh for solar and EUR 73.8/MWh for wind (the CfD wind auction).

The logic differs. The green certificate added revenue on top of the price of electricity sold on the market, paid by consumers through their bills. A CfD fixes a strike price: the producer receives the difference when the market is below it and pays it back when the market is above. Other projects sell their output through power purchase agreements (PPAs) or directly on the market, at prices formed on the PZU, the day-ahead market.

Momentum Energy’s view

For new projects, green certificates play no part: a solar or wind farm built today is financed on a CfD, a PPA or market revenue, and its technical design has to follow that revenue model. The old scheme still matters for anyone buying accredited plants in the Romanian energy market, a subject we also cover in our analysis of renewable M&A.

In such a transaction we check the ANRE accreditation decision and any modifications or suspensions, the date of first accreditation, the number of certificates per MWh and any reduction for investment aid, the certificates in account and the deferred certificates that pass to the buyer under Law 5/2023, and the risk of recovery of certificates issued in error. With the price at the legal minimum and a trading deadline of 31 March 2032, the remaining value should be modelled conservatively. As an EPC contractor with ANRE certifications for design, execution and testing, we support investors from development and construction through to operation and maintenance, through our services.

Sources and references

Organisations and documents cited in this article.

1. ANRE: Raport de monitorizare a sistemului de promovare a energiei electrice produse din surse regenerabile în anul 2025
2. ANRE: Raport cu privire la analiza de supracompensare a sistemului de promovare prin certificate verzi, anul 2025
3. ANRE: Raport privind monitorizarea garanțiilor de origine pentru E-SRE, anul 2025
4. ANRE: Surse regenerabile (legislație, cote de achiziție, rapoarte)
5. Legea nr. 220/2008, republicată (Monitorul Oficial nr. 577 din 13 august 2010), text publicat de ANRE
6. OUG nr. 88/2011 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 736 din 19 octombrie 2011), text publicat de ANRE
7. OUG nr. 57/2013 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 335 din 7 iunie 2013), text publicat de ANRE
8. HG nr. 994/2013 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 788 din 16 decembrie 2013), text publicat de ANRE
9. Legea nr. 23/2014 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 184 din 14 martie 2014), text publicat de ANRE
10. OUG nr. 24/2017 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 224 din 31 martie 2017), text publicat de ANRE
11. Legea nr. 184/2018 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 635 din 20 iulie 2018), text publicat de ANRE
12. Ordinul ANRE nr. 81/2025 privind cota obligatorie estimată de achiziție de certificate verzi pentru 2026
13. Ordinul ANRE nr. 3/2026 privind cota obligatorie de achiziție de certificate verzi pentru 2025
14. OPCOM: Raport anual de sinteză 2025
15. OPCOM: Raport de piață lunar, septembrie 2026
16. ANRE (Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority)
17. Transelectrica (transmission system operator)
18. Romanian Ministry of Energy
19. OPCOM (Romanian power exchange)
20. European Commission
21. EU Modernisation Fund (European Commission, Climate Action)
22. National Bank of Romania (BNR)