The Environment Fund Administration has extended its enrollment session to validate installers as part of the program on installing photovoltaic panels systems to household consumers. The EFA initiative is the most important means of supporting the emergence of prosumers in Romania and it has raised interest among potential beneficiaries.

Marian Mândru, Campaign Coordinator with Greenpeace Romania, was invited to the Commission for Energy, Energy Infrastructure and Mineral Resources in the Romanian Senate to provide details on the opinions of the potential beneficiaries of the EFA financing program. Marian Mândru has collected a series of observations he has synthesized in six points.

“I extracted 6 points from views expressed in the group on how the EFA program for prosumers could be improved. Some observations are relevant not only for EFA, but they could contribute to the success of the program. I will send them today to the Senate and other authorities”, Marian Mândru, announced on Thursday on the Facebook page of the Prosumer Protection group.

The main 6 observations are:

• Elimination of building permit for photovoltaic panels. Obtaining this authorization is a very long and costly process for prosumers. A faster solution needs to be found for installing photovoltaic panels in a way that complies with safety standards.
• Clarify the route to become a prosumer. There is not yet a completed document issued by the authorities, covering all stages, with the all the documents and tentative costs.
• The technical characteristics of the equipment described in the guide must be more permissive. Current conditions lead to a small number of equipment meeting the EFA requirements (this is mostly valid for inverters), generating large costs and lack of competition on the market.
• A unique authorization procedure for prosumers. The central authorities must communicate to all local authorities (municipalities) a single procedure for prosumers. Currently, for identical situations, in different counties, different documents and/or different permits are required at the local level. This unique procedure should be made available as soon as possible to those who wish to become prosumers.
• Quick solution the problems that would arise during the program. Both the EFA and the regulator (ANRE) must take into account market reactions and improve the conditions for prosumers as soon as possible.
• Reasonable costs for connecting prosumers to the grid.

Meanwhile, the EFA has decided to extend once again the deadline for installers to register and changed the conditions for submitting the dossiers. The number of installers validated is still insufficient to cover all the national anticipated demand and the number of rejected files (about one hundred) suggests that the procedure is too complicated, too restrictive and/or insufficiently understood by companies interested in joining the program. The new deadline announced by AFM is March 29.