General Manager of Energy Complex (EC) Oltenia Sorin Boza said that the new proposals of European directives in the energy sector impose certain technical barriers, which will practically remove coal based energy production from the market, and Romania is not prepared for that.
According to Boza, new directives provide the CO2 emission reduction at 550 grams per kWh produced. Currently, EC Oltenia and the lignite producers have about 940 grams together, adding that its technically impossible for lignite-fired plants to reach below 700 grams. He stressed that EC Oltenia has invested one billion euros of its own funds for installations that reduce pollution and today it can be said that it produces green energy. However, the European directive package would eliminate coal, and Romania is not ready to give up all the coal yet.
Earlier, the Minister of Energy Toma Petcu has shown that Romania is disadvantaged by the new proposals for European directives, which are not favorable for the development of the coal based energy production. He explained that the perspective of the new energy package that the European Commission is debating is at least worrying for Romania if it is adopted in its current form, and this will be felt especially in the coal production sector, which has always proved to be indispensable for Romania during times of high consumption in winter or during periods of drought. Currently, coal provides about one-third of the domestic consumption. Romania must strongly support at Brussels that each state will set its own mix, depending on the national resources, Minister Petcu concluded.
In his opinion, traditional resources, especially coal, are not in competition with renewable resources, they are complementary.
