In brief
- The Government approved, through Government Decision No. 582/2026, the Risk-Preparedness Plan in the field of electricity, the document setting out how Romania prevents, manages and recovers from an electricity crisis, at national and regional level.
- The plan catalogues 32 regional risk scenarios (from cyberattacks and solar storms to armed conflict) and sets concrete prevention, preparedness, response and recovery measures for each stage of a crisis.
- The national crisis coordinator remains the National Operational Center in the Energy Sector (CONSE), and Romania has mutual-assistance agreements with Serbia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Hungary.
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) No. 652 of 6 August 2026 (annex in No. 652 bis)
In force from: 6 August 2026
What happens if the national power grid goes into crisis, through a cyberattack, an extreme storm, or a cascading failure? The Government has approved the document that answers exactly this question. Government Decision No. 582/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania No. 652 of 6 August 2026, approves the Risk-Preparedness Plan in the field of electricity, drawn up by the Ministry of Energy under Regulation (EU) 2019/941 on risk-preparedness in the electricity sector.
The plan, 54 pages long and published in full in the bis edition of the same Official Gazette of Romania, is not a bureaucratic document without stakes: it sets out exactly who does what, in what order, as the national power system (SEN) moves through four successive states, conceived as a cycle under the European regulation’s model: prevention (reducing vulnerabilities), preparedness (monitoring, early warning, drills), response (notification, search and rescue, temporary repairs) and recovery (reconstruction, strengthening resilience).
The competent authority responsible for drawing up and implementing the plan is the Ministry of Energy, while actual coordination during a crisis falls to the National Operational Center in the Energy Sector (CONSE), set up through a separate order of the Minister of Energy and activated at the request of the transmission system operator, through the competent authority.
The period in which the safety measures set out in point 4.2.1 of the annex to this decision may be applied was extended until 30 September 2026 by Government Decision no. 684/2026.
What it changes in practice
For the first time in this form, Romania has an official and exhaustive list of 32 regional risk scenarios that can affect the power system: cyberattacks on the grid or on other assets, physical attacks on critical assets or control centres, threats against key staff, insider sabotage, solar storms, volcanic eruptions, cold or heat waves, floods, fossil-fuel or nuclear-fuel crises, cascading technical failures, strikes and industrial action, industrial or nuclear accidents, earthquakes, forest fires and armed conflict.
For each type of crisis, the plan sets concrete measures across the four stages of the management cycle: from monitoring and early warning, to notification and evacuation, to the full restoration of critical functions and subsequent sustainable development.
Four bilateral mutual-assistance agreements are confirmed, with Serbia and Ukraine (reciprocal provision of a quantity of electricity in a crisis), and operational agreements with Serbia, Bulgaria and Hungary, through existing interconnection lines (including the 400 kV Porțile de Fier – Djerdap line).
The plan also confirms the major grid interconnection projects included in the European Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP 2024): the Black Sea corridor, interconnection with the Republic of Moldova (400 kV Suceava – Bălți), the Georgia – Romania submarine cable, and the Romania – Hungary high-voltage direct-current interconnector.
What has changed compared with the previous situation
Romania already had risk-preparedness obligations under Regulation (EU) 2019/941, in force since 2019, but this plan is the official, up-to-date version of the document that synthesises risk scenarios, available resources and regional cooperation mechanisms, aligned with the National Integrated Energy and Climate Change Plan and the EU’s 2030 targets (a 55% emissions cut, greater energy efficiency, at least 15% interconnection).
The main novelty compared with earlier versions is the systematisation of the 32 regional risk scenarios into a single reference table, which now underpins the regional risk plans drawn up together with neighbouring countries, under Articles 11 and 12 of the Regulation.
Advantages and disadvantages
What it improves
- Provides a single, coherent framework for responding to any type of energy crisis, from natural causes to cyberattacks or armed conflict, with clearly assigned roles and responsibilities.
- Formalises mutual support with four neighbouring states, essential in a regional crisis, when the national grid cannot cover a shortfall in one area from another on its own.
- Rests on concrete interconnection investments (the Black Sea corridor, the Georgia cable, the Moldova line), not just paper procedures.
- Aligns Romania with European standards of energy resilience, useful both for consumer safety and for investor risk assessments.
What remains a problem
- The plan is, by nature, a strategic document; its real effectiveness can only be verified in an actual crisis, not by the mere existence of the document.
- The full 54-page text, with complex technical tables, is not easily accessible to the general public, even though it directly concerns the security of every consumer’s electricity supply.
- In its public form, the plan does not set out budgets or exact implementation deadlines for each measure, but rather a framework for action.
- It depends on effective coordination with transmission operators in neighbouring countries, a factor not solely within Romanian authorities’ control.
Practical advice
- If you work in energy, IT or critical infrastructure, the full plan, with all 32 risk scenarios and their measures, is available in Official Gazette of Romania No. 652 bis of 6 August 2026 and is worth consulting for your own business-continuity planning.
- Do not mistake this plan for a warning of an imminent crisis. It is a preparedness document, updated periodically, not a signal that an energy crisis is about to begin.
- For information on scheduled outages or real crisis situations, the official source remains the transmission system operator, through CONSE, not individual statements from energy suppliers.
- If you manage a building or a business with high energy consumption, consider your own backup power (batteries, generator) as a complementary measure, especially in areas exposed to extreme weather risk scenarios.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Risk-Preparedness Plan in the field of electricity?
How many risk scenarios does the plan identify?
Who coordinates Romania in an actual energy crisis?
Does Romania have help from other states in a crisis?
Where can I read the full plan, with all the technical detail?
Original text of the legal act
The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania
Official Gazette of Romania no. 652 of 6 August 2026 (+ 652 bis) 16 pages PDF, 105 KB the act starts on page 2
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.