New Changes in the Urbanism Rules for RES projects: Law no. 166/2023

The takeaway

Law no. 166/2023 was published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 498, on 7 June 2023. It amends and completes Law no. 350/2001 regarding territorial development and urban planning. It also completes Law no. 50/1991 regarding the authorisation of construction works.
Law no. 166/2023 brought significant changes and additions to the urbanism rules, including:

• Removal of the urban zonal plan (PUZ) requirement for renewable energy sources (RES) projects;

• Multiple investment objectives possible under a single urbanism certificate;

• Investment objectives can be developed based on PUZ in the absence of a county land use plan (PATJ) and a general urban plan (PUG).

These improvements are aimed at mitigating significant barriers to RES projects by reducing administrative burdens, streamlining the approval process and providing more flexibility for urban planning and construction in relation to these projects.

In detail

Law 166/2023 is aimed at supporting the European Union's objective of achieving a renewable energy share of at least 32% by 2030, as set out in EU Directive 2018/2001 of the Parliament European and Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources.
The main amendments brought by Law no. 166/2023 are:

Removal of PUZ requirement for RES projects: 

Previously, only RES projects covering an area of less than 50 hectares and located outside urban areas were exempt from the PUZ requirement. However, the recent amendment extends this exemption to include RES projects located within urban areas. This means that PUZ approval is no longer required for RES projects, regardless of their location.

This exception includes work related to the production and storage of electricity and hydrogen from renewable sources (including the construction of the transformer stations, cables and installations required for their connection to the public electrical network).

Multiple investment objectives under a single urbanism certificate: 

The amendment now allows multiple investment objectives to be regulated under a single urbanism certificate. Although there is only one urbanism certificate, it is possible to obtain multiple building permits for each investment objective, provided that the objectives are clearly defined through the technical documentation for obtaining the construction authorisation (DTAC). This change streamlines the approval process, as different sets of permits were previously required for each building permit.
While it is significant, this amendment does not provide explicit guidance on the requirements for prior endorsements and approvals during the permitting process. The law does not clarify whether these endorsements and approvals should follow the same procedure or whether separate endorsements and approvals are needed for each individual building permit.

Investment objectives can be developed based on PUZ in the absence of PATJ and PUG: 

In the absence of the PATJ and PUG, the PUZ requirement will only be necessary if its necessity is not expressly exempted by the law. As regards RES projects, the recent amendment explicitly exempts these projects from the requirement to obtain a PUZ even in situations where the PATJ and PUG have expired or are no longer valid.

Conclusion

The recent amendments to Law no. 350/2001 and Law 50/1991 bring important improvements for stakeholders involved in RES projects. Overall, these improvements are aimed at encouraging and facilitating RES projects by simplifying the related approval process.
Nevertheless, several practical questions regarding the development of RES projects remain unanswered. One such question is the interpretation of the exception for projects covering less than 50 hectares located outside the urban area. Therefore, further clarification is needed to address the practical challenges faced during the development of RES projects.

Source: [Law 166/2023 for the amendment and completion of Law no. 350/2001 regarding territorial development and urban planning, as well as for completing Law no. 50/1991 regarding the authorisation of construction works, published in the Official Gazette no. 498 dated 07 June 2023]