This commentary sets out recommendations based on the draft Government Decision of Romania’s future offshore wind farms, published by the Ministry of Energy on 23 July 2026 for consultation, to enable the announced capacity of over 11 GW to become a reality rather than remaining an ambitious target on paper.
Romania has taken an important, although overdue, step towards developing offshore wind energy in the Black Sea. Reaching over 11 GW is an encouraging signal, but this must be explicitly assumed in legislation, or at least in strategic documents, alongside a firm implementation timetable. This would provide investors with the predictability needed to underpin their investment decisions.
Author’s Insights:
“The selection process for the six offshore wind farm sites must become more transparent and inclusive, and there is a need for clear communication regarding the status of secondary legislation to investors, civil society and the academic community. A public consultation period longer than the legal minimum is also required for such decisions involving billions of euros, which have implications for the environment, the economy and national security. Furthermore, the technical study on which the selection was based must be published in full, not just the conclusions.
In the long term, transport infrastructure development should be approached from a regional perspective, possibly through scalable concepts such as energy islands, which can support both the first phase and the integration of phases 2 and 3. For the announced added value — between 16 and 27 billion euros — to translate into a domestic industrial base, Romania could consider Sectorial Deals similar to those in the United Kingdom or Poland.”
– Mihai Constantin
For or further details and media inquiries, please contact Mihai Constantin: mihai.constantin@epg-thinktank.org