Distribuție Energie Electrică Romania (DEER) has announced the successful completion of four EU-funded projects aimed at modernising electricity grids in different parts of the country. Each of them makes significant contributions to the transition to smart grids and to improving energy efficiency, the company emphasises. In total, the investments totalled some 314 million lei and will impact more than 42,000 consumers.
The first project focused on modernising the networks in Codlea and Ghimbav, in Brasov County. Through this programme, some 10,231 domestic and non-household consumers were integrated into a smart metering system. In addition, the distribution network was rehabilitated and smart meters were connected to a centralised platform for metering data management. The total value of the project exceeded 80 million lei and implementation took five and a half years.
In the municipality of Târgu Mureș, DEER implemented another energy efficiency project targeting 10,496 consumers. The initiative involved modernising the local infrastructure, installing smart meters and developing an advanced network asset management system. The finalisation of the project, with a total value of almost 47 million lei, has delivered a safer and more efficient infrastructure for consumers, in line with European carbon reduction targets.
Oradea’s Rogerius neighbourhood has also benefited from an ambitious project that has completely modernised the distribution network. With a budget of more than 94 million lei, the project connected 10,769 consumers to smart grids by installing high-performance transformers and an integrated data management system. This project demonstrated how modern technologies can make energy infrastructure more reliable and efficient.
From left to right, Gabriel Gheorghe, Director of the Strategy and Planning Division, Dan Mateaș, Director of the Network Development Directorate, Mihaela Suciu, General Manager, Claudiu Damian, Director of the CPT Directorate.
The implementation of a distribution network asset management system ensures the processing of information about the active state of the distribution network, said Gabriel Gheorghe, Director of the Strategy and Planning Division of DEER Romania.
In Galati, in the Țiglina 1-4 neighbourhoods, DEER has completed a project that included the installation of smart meters for 11,128 consumers. The system implemented was complemented by an advanced data management platform and an operations integration system, all of which contribute to reducing energy consumption and improving service quality. Worth over 93 million lei, the project took into account the importance of adopting digital solutions in the energy sector.
Mihaela Suciu, General Manager of Distribuție Energie Electrică Romania, emphasised the need to continue investing in the DEER network.”A good part of the networks are built before 2000. We have a substantial need for investment in networks. At the European Union level, the need for investment in energy networks is over 580 billion euros. In Romania too, the investment needs are considerable. We need to find a balance between the investment programme – network modernisation, increased capacity, connections and free connections, i.e. an investment programme must balance them in order to effectively solve these challenges”, said Mihaela Suciu.
The four initiatives of Distribuție Energie Electrică Romania are concrete examples of the efforts to modernise the networks for the transition to a sustainable energy infrastructure, part of a greener and more digitalized economy of the future.