ROMANIA: Romania’s energy production will double in the next four to five years – Burduja

Romania’s energy production will double in the next four to five years, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said on Wednesday at the first edition of the “INVEST in Hospitality Properties in the CEE Region” conference.

“Romania’s energy production will double in the next four to five years. In 2032, we will have two additional nuclear reactors at Cernavoda. I was happy to sign the project for the construction of reactors 3 and 4 in Baku. It is a project that we have been working on for 30 years and we will also benefit from the offshore resources of the Black Sea. We are the only country on the Black Sea with legislation for offshore energy production,” the minister said.

He also spoke about Romania’s new energy strategy, adopted last week by the government, specifying that our country “will move away from using coal” towards gas as a transitional fuel. “We all need safe, affordable and clean energy. This is the order of priorities,” Burduja added.

The minister said that although a lot has been invested in the energy sector, it is currently difficult to cover our electricity consumption. “We are doing well with gas, we cover our consumption and the situation will be even better. By 2027 we will have double production thanks to the Neptun Deep project. But we have problems with electricity because we have not invested in the past. We have invested almost 14 billion euros, at least. I have attracted only from European grants, in a year and a few months, 10,000 megawatts of solar and wind energy, 10,000 megawatts of natural gas, 22 megawatts of nuclear energy, at least 500 megawatts of hydropower. We have completed projects initiated 30-40 years ago and have invested almost 1,000 megawatts in energy storage, storage capacity”, explained Minister Burduja.

He, however, declared himself optimistic “in these difficult times”, based on what has been achieved in the last year and a half. “Since Sunday, I have received many calls from investors asking me what is happening in the country, because we are about to bring billions of euros in Romanian investments and we do not know what is happening in politics,” Burduja also declared. He mentioned that in recent years efforts have been made to increase credibility and trust in the Romanian people.

The first edition of the “INVEST in Hospitality Properties in the CEE Region” conference, about increasing profitability in Romania and Central and Eastern Europe, organized on Wednesday, in Bucharest, by the INVEST Think Tank, has Switzerland as the guest country.

The event brings together ministers, former prime ministers, ambassadors, leaders of international hotel chains, investors, bank representatives and real estate experts to analyze the opportunities offered by the Romanian market and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), at a time of expansion and development of the hotel infrastructure.