Milestone 133 of the PNRR represented a challenge and I am happy that we managed to unlock it and fulfill it in record time and on the assumed deadline, the investment projects for the construction of high-efficiency cogeneration energy production capacities in Craiova, Constanța , Arad and Râmnicu Vâlcea, worth 3.5 billion lei, currently being implemented, stated the Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja.
“Since assuming the mandate of Minister of Energy, I have set out to unblock all projects and accelerate investments, especially those in the PNRR and the Modernization Fund. Milestone 133 in the PNRR represented a challenge for us and I am all the happier that we managed to unlock it and fulfill it in record time and on the assumed deadline. We signed four contracts for the construction of high-efficiency cogeneration power generation capacities in Craiova, Constanța, Arad and Râmnicu Vâlcea, totaling an installed power of 486.2 MW electric and 355.8 MW thermal, much higher than the assumed target of 300 MW electric. Today, all four investment projects, worth 3.5 billion lei, are in the implementation process,” said Burduja, according to a statement from the Ministry Energiei quoted by Agerpres.
According to the competent ministry, regarding Milestone 129 – Hydrogen production capacities, it is being fulfilled, at this moment three financing contracts have been signed, totaling 33.82 MWH2, and in the next two months they will be signed and the rest of the contracts necessary to meet the target of 60 MWH2 installed power.
The European Commission (EC) adopted, on Tuesday, June 24, a decision by which it issues a positive preliminary assessment in order to lift the suspension of some payments, one of which amounts to 37.2 million euros to Romania (without pre-financing).
This follows previous suspensions, when the Commission found that certain milestones and targets had not been satisfactorily met in Romania’s second payment request.
“The commission found that two specific milestones in Romania’s second payment request had not been satisfactorily met. This led to the withholding of an amount of 53.4 million euros. After the initial suspension, Romania was encouraged to take measures for a period of 6 months. Now, the Commission found that Romania has taken measures to ensure that some of the outstanding milestones have been satisfactorily met. More specifically, milestone 129, related to capacities, was considered in June 2023 of green hydrogen production, as well as milestone 133, regarding investments in thermal energy production facilities with lower carbon dioxide emissions, were not satisfactorily met.The suspension mechanism allowed the country to receive a partial payment for the milestones and targets that had been satisfactorily met, while giving it additional time to meet outstanding requirements.Using the extended timetable, Romania implemented a series of effective actions that accelerated the decarbonisation of its industry. The Commission concluded that Milestone 133 is now satisfactorily met. Consequently, it now proposes to unblock the amount of 17.8 million euros that corresponds to this milestone,” the EC press release states.