Thus, in accordance with the national normative framework regarding decision-making transparency in public administration, the Ministry of Investments and European Projects is launching the public consultation process for the transmission of reform and investment proposals for the new REPowerEU chapter by interested actors.

"The geopolitical and economic situation of the European Union and, in particular, of the Romanian region, has changed substantially since the adoption of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in November 2021. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has greatly changed the macro-economic perspectives, following the emergence of a new crisis with particular effects in terms of energy, but also in terms of agri-food, including supply chains and commercial exchanges. In response to these difficulties and disruptions in the energy market, the European Commission initiated REPowerEU, a plan designed to ensure Europe's independence from fossil fuels from Russia until 2030", says the Ministry of European Investments and Projects.

"The Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RMR) is the central instrument through which we implement REPowerEU, a source of additional funding from the European Union, initiated at the request of Romania and two other countries. Member States need to add a dedicated chapter in their recovery and resilience plans to direct investment toward REPowerEU's priority objectives, and this is where we call for support from civil society. Based on the €1.4 billion we have, we have aimed to ensure the resilience of the Romanian energy system by increasing the share of electricity production from renewable sources (solar and hydropower). In addition, we aim at the decarbonization of the industry by increasing the energy efficiency of the infrastructure and the equipment used, the development of storage and transport capacities, as well as the efficiency and digitization of processes and the qualification of human resources in relation to the specific requirements of the renewable energy sector, but also with the security of supply immediately with natural gas", explained Minister Marcel Boloș.

The Ministry of European Investments and Projects proposes to organizations and individuals interested in an electronic form, standardized and simplified, through which proposals for reforms and investments can be sent. The deadline for submitting proposals is March 26, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.

The reforms and investments proposed to strengthen the resilience of the national energy system are as follows:

• Creation of the legal framework for the use of non-productive/degraded land owned by the state/UAT for the purpose of green energy production, including the creation of the single national register of non-productive land (allocation €15 million)
• Professional training of human resources in the fields of production, storage, transport, and distribution of green energy (allocation €4 million)
• Increasing energy efficiency and green energy production (allocation €229 million). This includes a pilot project in green energy and efficient water management (€8 million allocation); a bidding scheme for the installation of a total capacity of 130 MW related to the production of solar electricity with floating photovoltaic technology on the infrastructure of hydro-improvement systems under the administration of ANIF (allocation €100 million); a state aid scheme for the installation of a total capacity of 100MW related to the production of electricity from hydro sources (allocation €121 million).
• Using residential buildings to accelerate the deployment of energy from renewable sources – Granting vouchers to stimulate the installation of photovoltaic panels and related energy storage systems for residential buildings belonging to individuals. (allocation €233.69 million)
• Energy Autonomous Villages (allocation €200 million);
• New electricity production capacities from renewable sources (Top up I1, I3 – C6) (allocation €300 million). This includes new electricity production capacities from renewable sources (allocation €200 million) and the development of flexible and highly efficient gas production capacities for the cogeneration of electricity and thermal energy (CHP) in the district heating sector, in order to achieve deep decarbonization (allocation €100 million).
• Digitization, efficiency, and modernization of the national electricity transmission network (allocation €148 million).
• Digitization, efficiency, and modernization of the national natural gas transport network (allocation €103.7 million).