Almost 470 million euros of investments in natural gas transmission and distribution infrastructure planned for 2020, will be completed during 2021, according to the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE). In the national natural gas transmission system, investments were made in a total amount of 254 million euros in 2020, of which 165 million euros from the own funds of the transmission system operator Transgaz and about 90 million euros from the European funds. According to the information sent by the operator, it will complete the investments from own funds amounting to over 112 million euros by 31 October 2021, in order to realize the investment plan for 2020 in full.
The investment works were mainly focused on the expansion of systems for connecting new consumers, as well as modernization and upgrades in order to ensure the operation of the systems in safe, efficient and reliable manner. The regulatory framework obliges the operators to make investments in the system in the amount of at least 95 % of their total value included in the annual investment plan approved by ANRE for the respective year, with the possibility of recovering the delayed investments. Failure to comply with this obligation could result in fines proportional to the amount of their annual turnover.