It is a false myth that Romania is a large producer of electricity – Burduja

Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said it is “a false myth” that Romania is a major producer of electricity, given that it is unable to meet its peak consumption from domestic production and must rely on imports.

“The problem, however, is that Romania cannot cover its peak consumption from its own production. We need to explain to Romanians that there is this false myth, that Romania is a major energy producer. Romania has long ceased to be a major energy producer. During peak consumption, we do not have enough energy. This is the reality. How we got here after 35 years of lack of investment and decapitalization of energy companies and so on, we can discuss. But these things cannot be fixed from one year to the next,” said Sebastian Burduja, on the sidelines of the event “The Rise of Electrification”, organized by the Romanian Energy Center, Romania’s representative at the European organization of the electrical industry, Eurelectric.

“For better or worse, last year we put into operation as many production groups as in the previous 8 years in total, in a single year. It’s a very good start. If God helps us and we have this year double last year’s record, it will be better and better and we will be less and less dependent on others, on these very expensive imports”, the Minister of Energy now said, reiterating the idea that the fault for our high prices is the poor interconnection of the countries in central Europe, which means that the low prices in the west do not reach Romania.

“If we look at the average annual prices (wholesale – n.d.) in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Hungary, we see that, in recent years, we have been almost perfectly coupled. The film really breaks at the border between Austria and Hungary, for us and for all our neighbors”, the Minister of Energy continued.

Last year, Romania registered 1,250 MW of newly installed capacity, and this year, the commitments are targeting 2,500 MW, given that by the end of the year, the gas-fired power plant in Iernut and the first part of the power plant in Mintia are expected to be operational.

Romania’s installed power is about 19,200 MW, but the power available in reality is much lower, so there are quite frequent situations in which energy is imported even at peak consumption of 8,000 MW, and not in all cases, imports are made because they are cheaper.