Austrian Kelag, the operator of three wind farms in Romania, referred Romania to the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, over the violation of the so-called Energy Charter Treaty.
Kelag is the latest in the series of investors that sued Romania over subsidies for the production of electricity from renewable energy sources introduced in 2008, that were gradually phased out during 2013-2018.
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is an international agreement concluded in 1994 by European states and the former Soviet Union, which sets out the principles of international energy cooperation and contains provisions on investment protection in the energy sector. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union has recently ruled that the ECT is incompatible with EU law, which means that energy companies will no longer be allows to sue EU Governments using the Energy Charter Treaty.
Kelag owns and operates three wind farms in Romania: Mihai Viteazu 1 (13.8 MW), Dudesti (8 MW) and Pogoanele (8 MW).
