The European Commission (EC) has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether public support that Romania plans to grant for the refurbishment and lifetime extension of Unit 1 of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant is in line with EU state aid rules.

In January 2026, Romania notified the EC of its plan to support the refurbishment of the Cernavoda Unit 1 reactor while maintaining the same electricity generation capacity of 706 Megawatts, so it can operate for another 30 years.

The Unit 1 reactor began commercial operation in 1996. It currently supplies approximately 10% of Romania's electricity.

As the estimated lifetime of the reactor expires in 2027, the extension of its life by an additional 30-year operating cycle is crucial to ensure the long-term availability of low-carbon electricity. The project aims to increase the security of electricity supply for Romania, as well as to contribute to the European Union's decarbonisation targets.

The beneficiary of the support is Nuclearelectrica National Company S.A. (SNN), the owner and operator of the Cernavoda nuclear plant, which is majority-owned by the Romanian state and the only nuclear power operator in the country. The estimated nominal value of the project is EUR 3.2 billion.

According to the EC, Romania plans to support the refurbishment of the nuclear unit through four measures: a grant of EUR 600 million; state guarantees for loans taken to finance the investment; a two-way contract for difference (CfD) running for 30 years to provide stable revenues to the plant, and a protection mechanism for regulatory changes during construction and operation.

At this stage, based on its preliminary assessment, the EC has found the project necessary and considers that the aid facilitates the development of an economic activity. Nevertheless, the EC has doubts on whether the measure is fully in line with EU state aid rules.

For this reason, the EC has decided to open an in-depth investigation in relation to the appropriateness and proportionality of the aid package; the impact of the measure on competition in the market and whether this is kept to the minimum; the compliance with other provisions of EU law, in particular with the design principles set out in Article 19d(2) of the Electricity Regulation as regards the CfD.

Since there are several aid measures that together can limit the risk for the beneficiary, it is important to ensure that no more aid than necessary is ultimately granted. In particular, the EC has doubts on whether the proposed package achieves an appropriate balance between reducing risks to enable the investment and maintaining incentives for efficient behaviour, while avoiding excessive risk transfer to the state.

In particular, the EC has concerns that several essential design elements of the CfD do not provide efficient operational and maintenance incentives. The EC cannot conclude at the current stage that there are sufficient safeguards to prevent that aid is transferred to consumers or specific market participants.

The EC will now investigate further to determine whether its initial concerns are confirmed. The opening of an in-depth inquiry also gives Romania and interested third parties the opportunity to submit comments. It does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.

Under the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), member states are free to determine their energy mix, the conditions for exploiting their energy resources and the general structure of their energy supply. The decision to promote nuclear energy is a national competence.

State aid to support nuclear energy can be assessed directly under Article 107(3)(c) TFEU, which allows member states to facilitate the development of certain economic activities under specific conditions. The support must be necessary and proportionate and must not adversely affect trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest. Following the entry into force of the new electricity market design rules in July 2024, the EC also assesses compliance with the design principles for two-way CfDs set out in Regulation 2024/1747.

The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number SA.117704 in the state aid register on the EC's competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved. AGERPRES (RO - editing by: Cristian Anghelache; EN - editing by: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu)