German companies in the field of energy see in Romania multiple investment opportunities in the energy transition and at the same time an important market in the area of green energies. The representatives of eight German companies will explore possibilities for collaboration, but also for business expansion in Romania, during this week, both on the occasion of the “Development of the infrastructure for the production, storage and supply of energy from renewable sources” conference, as well as numerous bilateral meetings with local partners, which the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Romania) facilitates.
German businesses are constantly dynamic in the field of renewable energies, and entrepreneurs from this country have noticed a similar situation in Romania. This aspect was also noted by Sebastian Metz, the general director of AHK Romania, who declared at the opening of the conference that Germany and Romania have similar economic activities.
“Both in Germany and in Romania we have numerous large energy-consuming industries. We are, as they say, in the same boat, and that’s why we can discuss challenges, opportunities and solutions, learn from each other to be in a win-win position,” said Metz.
He also mentioned the European context, in which there is a tendency to combine the energy strategy with the industrial policies, which would revitalize competitiveness and complete the European Green Pact. “This will happen in the coming years in Europe and I expect to see similar strategies here in Romania,” he added.
Bilateral relations between Germany and Romania are better and more intense than ever, said the charge d’affaires of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bucharest, Christian Plate. In the field of energy, although investments in renewables and production capacities have increased significantly in recent years in Romania, the energy transition requires an adequate infrastructure in terms of production and storage, but especially in distribution networks. “Sometimes electricity has to travel long distances from energy producers to consumers, challenges that both Germany and Romania face. In Germany, for example, wind power is mainly generated in the north, east or offshore. However, the largest consumers of electricity – especially large industrial companies – are located in southern and western Germany. In Romania, many photovoltaic and wind power plants are located in the south and east of the country, and renewable electricity must be transported to the west of the country. There is also the issue of aging infrastructure that needs to be modernized. It is a priority topic on our political agenda, and events like today’s conference can lead to concrete projects,” he explained.
Present at the conference, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Dan Drăgan, said that renewable energies will represent 48.3% of Romania’s energy mix by 2030, according to the latest draft of the National Energy and Climate Plan (PNEC), the energy strategy on long term of Romania. He mentioned the country’s three major categories of energy production: renewable, nuclear and gas. According to the PNEC, renewable energy, consisting of solar, wind, hydro, biogas, geothermal, will produce a minimum of 10,000 additional GW by 2030. For nuclear energy, the Plan stipulates that the two units installed at the Cernavodă plant will be connected to the grid until 2030. Currently 80% of domestic gas needs are covered by domestic production, and by 2027 they will be completely covered by domestic production and even energy security in the area can be ensured.
Electricity storage capacities are gaining more importance in the long-term strategy. These will be diversified and will consist of batteries, inverters, thermal storage technology, pumped storage hydropower plants. “We expect to update the feasibility study by next year and be able to launch an internal tender procedure for partners for the development of this important pumped storage system of up to 1 GW in the north-western part of Romania”, said the Secretary of state.
Next, the eight German companies, BayWa r.e. Solar Projects GmbH, Econtech-Theiss GmbH, ELTEC Green Energy GmbH, Envelio GmbH, IBC Solar AG, SAE IT-Systems GmbH & Co. KG, SMIGHT GmbH, SUNSET Energietechnik GmbH, presented solutions for the development of renewable energy infrastructure.
These consisted of large-scale solar installations, energy efficient building equipment, electrical engineering and building automation services, green grid technologies, PV and storage energy services, PV substation control technology and wind power, smart grid solutions, solar module production.
The symposium was organized within the “German Energy Solutions Initiative” export program, financed by the Federal Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection (BMWK). The event is addressed to German companies interested in developing bilateral business in the field of energy efficiency and aims to promote German systems and products on the Romanian market.