Pioneering hydrogen projects in Romania could facilitate legislation

Pioneering hydrogen projects could facilitate the development of legislation to govern the low-carbon energy source in Romania, legal experts at German law firm NOERR wrote in a post published on July 13.

A number of EU countries including Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway have published national hydrogens strategies and are currently implementing projects. But Romania is yet to release a strategy, although certain regulatory provisions on hydrogen have been introduced into its energy legislation, NOERR experts Anca Mihailescu and Ana-Maria Albu wrote in a post shared on Romanian Lawyers Week.

The provisions that Romania has introduced are limited and not fully aligned with the realities of the four potential hydrogen markets: the natural gas system, mobility, electricity and industry, the experts said. 

"Specifically, the legal framework for hydrogen production, storage and transportation must be read in conjunction with a mixture of legal provisions related to energy, dangerous and explosive substances, industrial emissions, environmental, urbanism and construction," they said. "However, these provisions have not been adjusted to hydrogen projects and the application of a general framework might create significant barriers."

While solutions could be identified to implement projects at the current stage of legislative and market development, these projects face a long permitting process, with significant burdens. The support of Romanian authorities will be key to develop hydrogen technologies as well as the necessary legislation.

"It is more a question of who will be first: the legislation or the projects," the authors wrote. "Considering the country's background as well as the national recovery and resilience plan ... it very well might be that pioneering projects will facilitate the enactment of a comprehensive legislation."