ANRE approved the settlement of 1.18 billion lei to suppliers for the period November 2021- March 2022, according to a press release received by Energynomics, but the bulk of the invoices will start from April. Suppliers, who have credited the state through the capping and clearing mechanism, have to collect much higher amounts for the next period, as the scheme has expanded since April and the price of energy has skyrocketed since the second quarter, without making concessions to the market until the present.
“Anyway, the bulk of the settlements will come in April, when the scheme applies to almost all consumers, except those over 300 kWh and large ones, which have benefited from the exemption scheme from the payment of green certificates. Therefore, the bulk of the settlements is starting with April 1,” Laurențiu Urluescu, president of the suppliers’ association, AFEER, told Energynomics.
How much will the Romanian state cost the total settlements? The figure of 40 billion lei was circulated in the market for the whole year (according to the sources quoted by e-nergia.ro), but it is difficult to calculate an exact amount at the moment, says Urluescu.
“I don’t think anyone knows. We saw that the sum of 40 billion lei was forwarded, it is possible, but we do not know now the price of the settlements from October-November… So 40 billion could be a little bit small,” he added.
At the same time, the price of electricity is constantly rising, in line with European markets.
“Prices continue to rise and if at the beginning of the year we were afraid of prices of 1,000 lei/MWh, now the prices currently reach 2,200-2,300 lei/MWh… Unfortunately, the price in Romania is aligned with the European market. For example, in Germany the price was about 350 euro/MWh a few days ago, on July 15 – and the market opened today at 335 euro/MWh – we are talking about Cal 23, the price for next year, not DAM.
For deliveries in Quarter 4 2022, the price opened today at 425 euro/MWh. The prices are aligned, but we have always been above Germany, we are talking about long-term prices,” he added.
So far, lately no supplier has gone bankrupt, but the cost of bank loans is rising.
“So far no one new was (going bankrupt)… The fact that the state has started to drip… even if settlements are not flowing, somehow allows us to resist… We hope, and as you have seen, things have started to move better. If initially it was only November was settled and it took a long time until December, now we have reached March… Not to all suppliers, but it’s a step forward anyway. Now we are waiting for April session to open, so that we can send the reports, to receive the money we gave and we are waiting to recover, because the banks are asking for higher and higher interest rates, and things are quite expensive… Interest rates depend on how each supplier negotiates with the bank,” Urluescu added.
ANRE has so far approved the settlement of 1.18 billion lei
ANRE sent on Wednesday to the press a new release regarding the settlement requests verified by the institution and sent to the Ministry of Energy, according to which more than 1.18 billion lei were settled. The press release:
“Considering the activity carried out within ANRE regarding the collection, verification of data, preparation of analysis sheets and determination of amounts due for settlement from the state budget through the budget of the Ministry of Energy, in accordance with the provisions of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 118/2021, with subsequent amendments and completions, the situation of settlement requests, for the period November 2021 – March 2022, is as follows:
- total number of companies that submitted applications – 81,
- total number of applications submitted – 304,
- total number of approved applications – 187,
- total number of ineligible applications – 39,
- the total amount sent to ME – RON 1,181,712,145.96,
- total value of ineligible applications – RON 9,564,462.05,
- total requested value – RON 1,191,276,608.01.
The difference of 78 applications submitted for settlement is in different stages of analysis, and as the operators upload the data and supporting documents, requested by the assigned experts, their verification and determination will be performed with maximum efficiency.
We specify that the activity is carried out normally, in direct collaboration with the operators, reaching the settlement requests the level of March 2022.”
