Electricity for a garage, annex or shed: extend the house installation or get a separate connection?
You have a garage, a workshop annex, a garden shed or a container on your property, and you need power in it — for lighting, sockets, a welder, an EV charger or just a chest freezer. In 2026 there are exactly two legitimate ways to do it: extend the existing electrical installation of the house with a new circuit, or request a separate electrical connection (bransament) with its own meter from the grid operator, Retele Electrice Romania S.A. (formerly E-Distributie / Enel). The two routes differ enormously in paperwork, cost and timeline — and choosing the wrong one means either months of unnecessary bureaucracy or an undersized, non-compliant supply. Here is how to decide.
The two routes at a glance
| Extension from the house | Separate connection (bransament) | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal nature | Internal electrical installation work | New place of consumption at the operator |
| Paperwork with the operator | None, if you stay within your approved power | Full process: dossier, ATR, execution, DIU |
| Own meter and bill | No — consumption runs through the house meter | Yes |
| Typical timeline | 1–2 days of work | Weeks to months (operator deadlines) |
| Indicative cost | Depends on cable route and loads; power increase from 350 lei if needed | Single-phase from 1,800 lei + dossier from 900 lei + DIU from 1,200 lei + the operator’s tariff, set via ATR |
| When it is mandatory | — | Garage or annex on a different plot of land |
Option 1: a new circuit from the existing house installation
If the garage or annex stands on the same property as the house, the simplest solution is almost always a new circuit run from your existing consumer unit. Legally, this is standard electrical installation work: nothing changes in your relationship with the grid operator — same meter, same contract, same bill.
What the work actually involves
- a dedicated circuit breaker and RCD in the house consumer unit, or a small sub-board mounted in the garage;
- correctly sized cable — 3x2.5 mm² is typical for a socket circuit, but a welder, compressor or EV charger needs heavier cable, calculated for the load and the distance;
- the cable route: overhead on a catenary wire between buildings, or buried in protective conduit at the depth required by the standards;
- sockets, lighting and — especially for metal containers and steel-frame garages — proper earthing and bonding.
One honest warning: a long run to the bottom of the garden with thin cable means voltage drop, tripping breakers and overheated conductors. This is exactly the kind of job where a cheap improvisation becomes a fire risk. Have it sized and executed by a qualified electrician.
The golden rule: no operator paperwork if you stay within your approved power
According to the ANRE regulations in force, you do not need to notify the operator or change anything in your connection as long as the new consumption stays within the approved power written in your existing ATR or connection certificate. A few LED lights and sockets in a shed will not move the needle. A 7 kW EV charger or a 5 kW workshop compressor very well might.
When you also need a power increase (spor de putere)
If the house has a typical older single-phase supply and you want to add serious loads in the garage, the existing approved power may simply not be enough. The fix is a power increase — our works start from 350 lei, plus whatever the operator’s updated approval sets out. Sometimes this also means moving from single-phase to three-phase. There is paperwork with the operator in this scenario, but it is still considerably lighter than a brand-new connection.
Option 2: a separate connection with its own meter
A separate connection means the garage becomes a new place of consumption in the operator’s records: a dedicated service line, a connection cabinet (firida / BMPM) and its own meter and supply contract.
The full process, step by step
- Connection dossier + design (from 900 lei): ownership documents, site plan and the connection application submitted to the operator.
- ATR — Technical Connection Approval, issued by Retele Electrice Romania S.A. It sets the technical solution, the connection point, the approved power and the operator’s connection tariff. That tariff is established only through the ATR — nobody can honestly quote it in advance. We provide ATR assistance from 350 lei to make sure the requested power and solution are right the first time.
- Connection contract and execution. A single-phase connection starts from 1,800 lei (overhead also from 1,800 lei; underground from 3,500 lei); a three-phase connection starts from 2,900 lei.
- DIU — the utilisation installation dossier (from 1,200 lei), drawn up by an ANRE-certified electrician. It is mandatory before energisation — see the full DIU guide.
- Meter installation and supply contract — power on.
Realistically, the whole process takes from several weeks to a few months, driven mostly by the operator’s response times — so do not choose this route for convenience alone.
When a separate meter is genuinely worth it
- you rent the garage or annex out, or a family member uses it independently — separate billing prevents endless arguments;
- the garage hosts a small business (car workshop, detailing, joinery) and you want the electricity cost on the company’s books;
- you plan high loads — three-phase machinery, several EV chargers — beyond what the house supply can reasonably be upgraded to;
- the existing house service line is old and at its limit, and the operator’s solution for an upgrade turns out more complicated than a fresh connection (rare, but it happens).
Garage on a different plot: a separate connection is mandatory
This is the one case where there is no choice to make. If the garage, shed or container sits on a different plot of land — a different cadastral number — than the house, you cannot legally feed it from the house installation. Not across the street, not over the shared fence, not “just temporarily”. Each property is a separate place of consumption, and the operator’s grid is the only legal path between two properties. A cable strung to your other plot — or borrowed from a neighbour — is illegal supply of electricity, and it can void your insurance claim the day something burns.
The same logic applies to a newly bought plot or agricultural land where you place a garage or container first: the route is dossier, ATR, connection, DIU.
Containers and site cabins: the temporary option
A container used as a site office or tool store during construction works has a third, purpose-built option: a temporary site connection (bransament provizoriu de santier), from 2,200 lei — typically a metered pole-mounted board, valid for the duration of the works. If the container later becomes permanent (workshop, kiosk, office), it moves onto one of the two main routes above.
How to decide in 30 seconds
Extend the house installation if the building is on the same plot, the loads are moderate and one bill is fine — add a power increase if the loads are serious. Get a separate connection if the building is on a different plot (mandatory), you need separate billing, it serves a business, or the power requirement is simply too big for the existing supply.
Get power to your garage without the headaches
SUN WATT SRL (ANRE certificate no. 19761) handles both routes: we run and certify the new circuit, or we manage the entire connection file with Retele Electrice Romania S.A. — dossier, ATR, execution and DIU — in Bucharest, Ilfov and Giurgiu, with DIU services nationwide. Call 0733 097 440, tell us what you want to power, and we will tell you honestly which route is cheaper for your case — before you spend a single leu on paperwork you may not need.