The state puts its poorest farmland up for auction for solar and wind farms

The state is opening up for green energy precisely the farmland it has nothing left to grow on. Law no. 159/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 592 of 20 July 2026, amends Law no. 268/2001 and creates a new category of public land, the areas suitable for accelerating renewable energy projects, which are granted under concession by open outcry auction. The measure comes in the same year as the extension to 2028 of the deadlines for renewable energy investments financed from the Modernisation Fund.

The land concerned belongs to the public and private domain of the state and is managed by the National Authority for the Administration of State Domains, Fisheries and Aquaculture. The law was promulgated by Decree no. 434/2026 and applies from 23 July 2026.

The act answers three questions, in this order: which land is in play, how it is awarded and how long permitting takes. For each of them the criteria are written into the law rather than left to implementing rules.

What it changes in practice

The first effect is the appearance of RES acceleration areas. The new paragraph (2¹) of Article 2 of Law no. 268/2001 designates as such the land in the public and private domain of the state, managed by the authority and not served by land improvement infrastructure, which falls into one of three situations: class IV and V farmland that cannot be used for agriculture, as established by soil and agrochemical studies; degraded or unproductive land that cannot be used for agriculture; land located outside Natura 2000 sites, outside other areas protected for nature and biodiversity conservation and outside the main migration routes of species.

The second effect is the split by technology. Inside the area, the land is identified for each technology according to its own criteria: for solar, compact and flat land, optimal exposure to the sun established on the basis of information from the National Meteorological Administration, a minimum of obstacles that would shade the panels and access to grid connection infrastructure; for wind, an adequate wind resource, again based on meteorological data, and compliance with the minimum distances between turbines and from residential areas or infrastructure; for storage, flat land and proximity to the grid and to generating plants.

The third effect concerns the designation procedure. By way of derogation from Article 15³(1) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 163/2022, the areas are designated by an act of the minister of agriculture and rural development and are to be included afterwards in the general plan for designating acceleration areas. Where the plan covers degraded or unproductive land managed by the authority, it must first go through the strategic environmental assessment for plans and programmes provided for by Government Decision no. 1.076/2004 and, where applicable, through the appropriate assessment under Article 28 of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 57/2007.

The fourth effect is the list of exclusions, taken over from the criteria of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 163/2022: Natura 2000 sites and other areas protected for nature and biodiversity conservation, the main migration routes of species, historical monuments and protected built areas, except for the artificial or built-up surfaces inside them, as well as other areas identified as sensitive on the basis of official maps.

The fifth effect is the award method. Point (i), newly inserted in Article 4(1), allows land designated as an RES acceleration area to be granted under concession by public auction with open outcry, following the procedure in the new Annex no. 5, by way of exception from Articles 19 to 21 of the same law and by way of derogation from Articles 302 to 320 of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 57/2019. Contract holders declare and pay the royalties quarterly, by the 25th day of the month following the end of the quarter.

The sixth effect is record keeping. Article II requires the authority to set up and manage the single national register for land owned by the state and placed under its administration.

The seventh effect is the permitting timetable. Projects in acceleration areas follow the procedure in Articles 16 to 16² of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 163/2022, and the authorities issuing opinions, agreements, permits, certificates and licences are required to observe the deadlines set there. Permitting goes through a digitalised One-Stop Shop mechanism, built on the single electronic point of contact for industrial licensing and coordinated through the Industrial Licence Office, with a maximum term of 6 months from the filing of a complete application. The absence of an answer within the deadline counts as tacit approval, unless the project falls under environmental impact assessment, where an explicit decision is required.

The eighth effect concerns the environment. The competent authority applies a simplified screening procedure and may issue the opinions without environmental impact assessment and without appropriate assessment, provided that the project fully complies with the criteria of the area and with the mitigation measures and that the screening shows a negligible risk of unforeseen significant adverse effects. For photovoltaic projects, the law expressly recognises agrivoltaic solutions, which allow crops to be grown under the panels, and ecovoltaic ones, which preserve habitats for local flora and fauna.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

The first change concerns the purpose of the land. Law no. 268/2001 governed the privatisation of the companies that managed state farmland and set up the authority keeping the records of that land. Now the same land acquires a second regime, concession for electricity generation, applicable only where the soil no longer supports agriculture.

The second change is the award procedure. Concessions of publicly owned assets are as a rule run under Articles 302 to 320 of the Administrative Code, with bids submitted in sealed envelopes. Here a public auction by open outcry applies, with a bidding step of 5% of the minimum royalty and award on the spot, at the highest level offered.

The third change concerns who designates the areas. The general rule in Government Emergency Ordinance no. 163/2022 ties designation to the national plan. The new law allows the minister of agriculture to designate the land by his own act, with inclusion in the plan following afterwards.

The fourth change is the permitting deadline. Until now a developer collected the opinions separately, from each institution, each with its own deadline. The law sets a single deadline, 6 months from the complete application filed electronically, which may be extended once by no more than 6 months and only in exceptional circumstances, stated in writing before the initial deadline expires.

The fifth change is the register. Until now the records of state land managed by the authority had no single national register provided for by law.

What does not change is the legal filter applied to the land. Land subject to restitution or claimed, land for which title deeds have been issued and land under litigation before the courts all remain outside the procedure.

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