Romania’s Energy Ministry has proposed ending mandatory forward electricity-trading requirements on December 31, 2027, while retaining current producer and supplier obligations until then. The proposal could change the volumes available for long-term hedging and the procurement options of retailers and buyers without their own generation.
A draft amendment to the electricity law, dated November 4, would require qualifying producers to trade at least 50% of annual output through organised markets, excluding day-ahead, intraday and balancing platforms. Suppliers would have to cover at least 30% of customer requirements through their own production or eligible forward purchases.
The draft makes the requirements time-limited rather than removing them immediately. If enacted in its current form, the obligations would remain through the end of 2027.
Integrated supply in scope
The proposal retains exclusions from the producer requirement for operators whose facilities are exclusively wind, solar, micro-hydro or high-efficiency cogeneration. It would also account for volumes committed under contracts signed before the ordinance takes effect, reducing the risk that existing sales agreements are disrupted when mandatory shares are calculated.
Electricity a producer generates and supplies directly to household customers could count towards the 50% requirement. That provision recognises that wholesale sales are not the only outlet for a producer’s output.
The treatment is relevant to Hidroelectrica, Romania’s largest electricity producer and an important retail supplier. The company reported 9,328 GWh of net generation in the first nine months of 2026, sales to final customers of 6,739 GWh and wholesale-market sales of 4,288 GWh across venues.
Those figures illustrate why wholesale-market volumes may not capture the exposure of an integrated producer serving its own retail customers.
Implications for forward markets
Romania’s forward-trading requirements were designed to support market depth and reduce dependence on short-term price formation. Their scheduled expiry could affect organised contract markets operated by OPCOM, volumes available to independent retailers and the transparency of long-dated prices.
The end of mandatory trading would not necessarily reduce total hedging. Companies could continue forward trading voluntarily to protect earnings, secure cash flow or meet lender requirements.
Traders will need to assess whether supply shifts towards bilateral contracts or internal generation-retail allocations. A narrower pool of exchange-listed forward products could raise the cost of constructing hedges and increase the importance of counterparty credit limits, collateral and settlement terms, particularly for buyers without their own generation.
Trading portfolios using Romanian forward contracts alongside HUPX and other exchanges could transmit effects to Hungary and neighbouring Southeast European markets. The size of any cross-border impact cannot yet be quantified and will depend on trading behaviour, not only on the draft’s wording.
The proposal remains subject to approval. Producers, retailers and financial intermediaries will need to assess the final exemptions, contract-accounting treatment and potential effects on market liquidity before changing procurement strategies.
