In Romania in the last ten years, no new electricity production capacities have been built, therefore the country is now forces to imports electricity for its own consumption, said Romanian Minister of Economy and Energy Virgil Popescu.
Minister Popescu stressed that energy is another strategic area of Romania and it should not be an issue whether the country is able to build new production capacities, to switch from coal to natural gas and build new renewable capacities. In the last ten years there were no state-side investments in electricity production and now Romania is importing electricity. He said that there are feasibility studies already in progress and the construction of new electricity generation capacities will actually start next year.
He said that all companies, whether state-owned or private, need a strong push to make these investments, because there is money for energy, including for the construction of units 3 and 4 at NPP Cernavoda.
Last week, the National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE) said that Romania officially has 20,608 MW of installed capacity in electricity generation, which is 88 MW less than in the beginning of 2020. The official statistics indicate the total installed capacity of 20,608 MW, of which 32.2 % in hydropower (6,643 MW), 23.2 % in coal-fired power plants (4,787 MW), 15.6 % in gas-fired power plants (3,212 MW), 14.7 % in wind power (3,023 MW), 6.9 % in nuclear power plant Cernavoda (1,413 MW), 6.8 % in solar power (1,392 MW) and 0.5 % biomass power plants (106 MW). The total installed capacity also includes biogas power plants with 20.452 MW, waste heat with 4.1 MW, waste with 0.05 MW and geothermal power plants with 0.015 MW.
