Bogdan Tudorache

CEZ Romania ended the year 2018 with an EBITDA of 395 million lei, up 33 million lei, or 9%, as compared to the previous year. Investments (capex) also increased by 8% to 283 million lei.

“In the middle of 2018, I took over the CEZ Group’s operations in Romania and I also drew the first conclusions about the Group’s activity. I have learned that the most important role in our business is the client, followed by employees, community and authorities. In 2018, we have put an accent on the level of digitalization of our business, developed communication channels with our customers, provided energy for the community, maintained the optimum level of network investments and remained responsible for interacting with the environment,” says Ondrej Safar, country manager and chairman of the CEZ Romania’s Directorate.

The CEZ Romania group ended the year 2018 with a reported profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 395 million, up 33 million compared to 2017. At net profit level, the Group recorded more slowdown as compared to the previous year, marking a decrease compared to 2017, mainly driven by wind energy production activities.

In 2018, the wind turbines in the Fântânele – Cogealac wind farm produced a total of 1,105 GWh, the CEZ Group remaining the largest private producer of renewable energy in the country. At the same time, the hydroelectric system near Resita produced 69 GWh in 2018, a total production of 14 GWh higher than in 2017, owed to heavy rainfall.

At the level of the distribution operator, network investments have been accompanied by significant results in the SMART Transformation project. In 2018, Oltenia Distribution was the first distribution operator to implement the MWM (work mobile management) system in its operational area, reducing the intervention time of its operational teams by allocating the closest workshift to the area of an electrical deficiency but replacing the records on paper, in the field, for each network incident, with tablets.

Also, in 2018, smart processes implemented by Oltenia Distribution led to a 5.6% reduction in network losses as compared to 2017, the operator investing about 184 million lei in CAPEX (own funds) and approximately 182 million lei representing commissioning.