Romania ranks last among EU countries in terms of solar and wind energy per capita, although the European Executive insists on accelerating the transition to clean energy to reduce dependence on Russia and fossil fuels and meet climate targets, according to an analyzes of the Bankwatch Romania Association.
Thus, Romania is among the last four countries, with 0.229 KW installed per capita, after our country being only Slovenia (0.178), Slovakia (0.099) and Latvia (0.048), with a much lower potential in this field.
The leader of the ranking is Denmark, with 1,476 KW/capita from solar and wind energy, followed by Germany (1,459), Sweden (1,353) and the Netherlands (1,287).
Romania also suffers from an acute shortage of newly installed capacity. According to the Association, 4 GW of fossil energy (gas and coal plants that have become inefficient) have been decommissioned in the last 7 years without being replaced by other sources of production. Since 2015, no significant renewable energy capacity has been installed.
The addition of solar and wind power generation capacities is all the more important in the context of rising electricity prices caused by Russia’s dependence on fossil fuels. Following the escalation of the political-military conflict, which began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, electricity prices exploded, in Romania reaching an average weighted price per PZU (DAM) in August of 2423.86 lei/MWh, respectively 490 euros/ MWh, after in July the average price was 1813.74 lei/MWh, i.e. 367.19 euros/MWh. PZU’s record was on August 26, when it exceeded 700 euros/MWh, being the highest in the EU. Prices in the summer months of 2022 are about four times higher than a year ago.
The trend of PZU (DAM) on the OPCOM market in the first days of September was an increase, in some days registering over 500 euro/MWh, thus Romania being at the top of the prices in the EU.
“Romania has the need and capacity to increase the production of renewable energy, new investments in clean energies, such as solar and wind, which, together with investments in storage, are the best alternative to the volatility of energy prices produced from classic sources, which are also pollutants. Photovoltaic and wind capacities are installed more quickly and have low operating costs, and could be the resilient solution in crises like the current one,” says Laura Nazare, coordinator of the energy transition campaign at Bankwatch Romania.
