Romania’s energy policy under debate

Romania could invest over 16 billion Euro to develop its energy sector

Roxana Vasile, 11.01.2022, 14:00

The Government in Bucharest
on Monday met in an informal session to discuss the 16 billion Euro funding
opportunity Romania might benefit from until 2030 in order to develop its
energy sector and make the transition towards a green economy. Developed as
part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan agreed upon last year with
the EU and with support from the Modernization Fund, the projects target such
sectors as sustainable energy, coal replacement, nuclear energy, cogeneration
and biofuel, and are aimed at radically transforming Romania’s energy
infrastructure.

Accordingly, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă has called for giving
top priority to Romania’s capacity of producing the necessary components for
projects aimed at producing renewable energy, an approach that would yield
significant economic benefits and make new jobs available in state-of-the-art
technologies. By 2030, the Government wants to provide minimum access to
electricity and thermal energy for all consumers, to protect vulnerable
consumers and reduce energy poverty, to produce clean energy or to modernize
the institutional regulatory framework. Equally important is increasing the
quality of education in the field of energy and the continuous training of highly-qualified
professionals. Last but not least, Romania also wants to boost its energy
contribution on regional and European markets and become a regional provider of
energy security. The list of concrete measures includes increasing the
production capacity of wind turbines and photovoltaic parks, as well as the
number of prosumers.

The authorities also want to develop a medium- and
long-term nuclear programme and modernize the Oltenia and Hunedoara energy
companies. High on the government’s agenda are also investment projects at the
Hidroelectrica and Romgaz state-owned enterprises. Special attention will also
be given to energy efficiency, cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions, research
and innovation. Figures show that Romania pledged to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by 44% by 2030 compared to the reference level of 2005, and to
increase the share of renewable energy consumption in the country’s total
energy input by over 30%. These commitments represent an effort to attain the
climate targets of the EU as a whole: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at
least 55% and increasing the share of renewable energy by at least 32%. (VP)