As of March 1, 2022, there will be a new cogeneration scheme, announced Niculae Havrileț, State Secretary at the Ministry of Energy. “There will be a new cogeneration scheme as of 1 March next year, but conditions will be much more restrictive. I have to tell you that a large part of the current cogeneration scheme [beneficiaries] will no longer qualify. In terms of technologies, many of those companies, which now benefit from the scheme, are outdated, as they come from the 1970s. It will be a new financing scheme to support cogeneration, but conditions will be difficult to meet, or easier to meet if new technologies are used, for the future”, said Niculae Havrileț, during the conference “Decarbonization: How fast? Where to?”, organized by Energynomics.

As for the development of hydrogen solutions, they are currently included in the EU taxonomy. “The taxonomy requires energy producers not to exceed the quota of 100 g of CO2 per kWh, which is impossible when using, for example, natural gas. The only fuel that can provide this low emission level is hydrogen. Until now, Romania does not have technologies – you know very well how difficult it is to develop new investments in new technologies and how much they cost. We also think about the fact that at present we do not have significant consumers of hydrogen. We would export it if we had hydrogen. Currently, hydrogen is used in several refineries in the country, in petrochemicals, but it is not used in electricity production. There is this initiative supported by the ministry, which started from the Romanian oil and gas producers, together with the partners from the European Union. [The idea is to] work together on an integrated project that will use hydrogen from production to use – in this case, the user would
be the heavy transporter. Also, a pan-European network is being set up to set up a transport corridor to use hydrogen”, added Havrileț.

Concerning the EU taxonomy, there is a discussion about the possibility of increasing allowed emissions to 250 grams of CO2 per kWh, but only in natural gas-hydrogen combinations, so that in 10-15 years the manufacturer would be able to meet this average of 250-350 gCO2 / kWh.

“We are currently conducting debates, in meetings with the business players, which could lead to the first hydrogen projects”, he said.

Autor: Bogdan Tudorache

Active in the economic and business press for the past 26 years, Bogdan graduated Law and then attended intensive courses in Economics and Business English. He went up to the position of editor-in-chief since 2006 and has provided management and editorial policy for numerous economic publications dedicated especially to the community of foreign investors in Romania. From 2003 to 2013 he was active mainly in the financial-banking sector. He started freelancing for Energynomics in 2013, notable for his advanced knowledge of markets, business communities and a mature editorial style, both in Romanian and English.