Romania Journal | 18 March 2025
Romania loses Washington lawsuit over Dobrogea wind farm
The Romanian state has lost a lawsuit pending before the International Court of Arbitration in Washington (ICSID), initiated in 2020 by an investor in the renewable energy sector, sources in the sector told HotNews.
The case concerns EP Wind Project (Rom) Six Ltd, a Cyprus company that owned and operated, through a Romanian company, the Chirnogeni wind farm in Dobrogea, with an installed capacity of 80 MW and which has been operating since 2013.
The three arbitrators ruled unanimously in favor of the investor. The decision was communicated to the parties, but has not yet been published on the ICSID website.
A year ago, according to a press release from the Competition Council, EP Wind Project (Rom) S.A. was taken over by Engie Romania.
It is one of the many disputes pending before the ICSID in which the Romanian state is involved, many of them being initiated by investors in the renewable energy sector.
The amount of compensation requested is approximately 183 million euros. The plaintiff is requesting compensation of approximately 183 million euros, according to the explanatory memorandum of a 2024 government decision (HG 634/2024).
However, the Court’s decision states that the two parties should establish the amount of compensation by mutual agreement. Most of the pending lawsuits are in the field of renewable energy. Investors who lost their right to green certificates sued Romania at ICSID, claiming the sudden change in the renewable energy law in 2013.
Following these changes, a large part of the certificates to which producers in the renewable energy sector were entitled were cut. First, the change was made through GEO 57, and then in January 2014 through the law approving GEO 57.
Renewable energy producers protested against these changes made in a hurry, without consulting the sector. The Romanian government was then led by Prime Minister Victor Ponta.
“In the action, in essence, the investor considers that Romania has unjustifiably modified the normative support regulations established in the field of renewable energy. More specifically, he claims that, at the time of the construction of the wind farm in Chirnogeni Commune, Constanța County (in the period 2012-2013), he took into account the legislative framework existing at that time (Law no. 220/2008, as amended by Law no. 139/2010 and Law no. 134/2012). Once he obtained accreditation from the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) in 2013, the investor claims that he secured the right to receive two green certificates (GCC) per MWh of electricity produced until the end of 2017 and one GCC per MWh of electricity produced starting with 2018, for a total duration of 15 years,” the Ministry of Finance said.
