The Government today endorsed several legislative amendments aimed at reducing the risks of disruptions to fuel supplies and improving the management of grid connection capacities in the electricity sector.

A draft law positively endorsed at today’s Cabinet meeting was registered in Parliament by several MPs from the PAS parliamentary faction and aims to strengthen the state’s intervention mechanisms in situations of energy alert or crisis. The document proposes measures to enable authorities and market operators to respond more rapidly to disruptions in imports or major fluctuations in fuel prices.

Among the main provisions of the draft legislation is the possibility for the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) to temporarily apply flexible mechanisms for calculating maximum prices for petrol and diesel during periods of crisis. Thus, the regulator could adjust the reference period used to calculate prices, for example, seven instead of 14 days, or use alternative quotations for petroleum products, allowing final prices to more promptly reflect market developments and reducing the risk of market imbalances.

The draft law also provides for the simplification of the logistics process for fuel supplies. Imported petroleum products could be delivered directly to filling stations, without the obligation to transit exclusively through oil product storage facilities. According to the authors of the legislative amendments, this measure would reduce delivery times, prevent the overloading of storage infrastructure, and help prevent shortages during periods of high demand or difficulties with imports.

In addition, the Ministry of Energy proposed supplementing the draft law with a provision repealing Article 72 of the Electricity Law, with a view to preventing the blocking of available electricity grid capacity. The need for this measure is justified by the fact that some participants in competitive tenders for energy projects have reserved, through grid connection approvals, more grid capacity than the capacity actually offered in the tenders, without subsequently implementing the respective projects. This practice has resulted in the unjustified occupation of available grid capacity and is inconsistent with the purpose for which the provision under Article 72(10) was introduced.

The new provisions therefore seek to strengthen discipline in the use of capacity reserved through grid connection approvals and ensure a genuine correlation between the capacities actually developed through competitive procedures and the capacity occupied in the grid. At the same time, the draft law maintains a transitional regime for tenders that have already been launched and are still ongoing, while the current mechanism will continue to apply only within the capacity of the power plant indicated in the bid submitted as part of the tender, rather than to the entire capacity previously reserved through the grid connection approval.

The measures are necessary to ensure more efficient use of electricity infrastructure, prevent other investors from being denied access to the grid, and avoid discriminatory treatment among applicants seeking grid access.