Delgaz Grid, the distribution company of E.ON Romania, made last year investments of over 846 million lei (about 171 million euros) in the natural gas and electricity distribution networks, and for the current year it has planned a record amount of 1.265 billion lei (250 million euros), more than 46% than in 2024.
Investments in 2025
Investments of over 560 million lei (111 million euros) are planned for natural gas. Natural gas pipelines and connections will be modernized over a length of 450 km. At the same time, to improve the quality of service, 14 regulation-measuring stations will be modernized. The development of the natural gas distribution system and the connection of new consumers is another priority, with funds planned for this year to expand the network by over 140 km.
Investments of 703 million lei (139 million euros) are planned for the electricity segment, of which over 187 million lei (37 million euros) represent EU funds. The investments aim to continue implementing SCADA and automation of the distribution system, SMART metering, modernizing overhead networks, substations and transformation stations, expanding the distribution network to connect new consumers, as well as meeting the requirements of the performance standard.
In total, there are currently 14 projects with European funds with signed financing contracts, in various phases of implementation, for a total amount of 401.7 million euros, of which 307 million euros are European funding. Also, 14 other projects are under evaluation, with a total value of 424.9 million euros, of which 330.1 million euros represent European funding. The amounts required for co-financing come from its own sources, but also from a 200 million euro loan contracted in November last year from the European Investment Bank.
Delgaz Grid will install, in the next five years, about one million smart meters to its customers in the Moldovan area, which means that 85% of consumers will benefit from smart energy metering systems by the end of 2029.
Last year’s investments
Supported by its own sources and attracted European funds, the investments made in 2024 were over 90% higher than the annual average for the 2010-2019 period (90 million euros/year).
Investments of over 356 million lei (72 million euros) were recorded in the distribution of natural gas, with 365 km of gas pipelines and connections being modernized. The distribution network was extended by 459 km, with almost 35,000 new consumers being connected. At the same time, in partnership with local authorities, natural gas distributions were established in 10 localities in the counties of Iași, Bacău, Arad and Sibiu, over a length of 68 kilometers, following total investments of approximately 16.5 million lei.
12 natural gas regulation-measuring stations were modernized in the counties of Bacău, Cluj, Mureș, Neamț, Sălaj, Satu Mare and Timiș, which led to the improvement of the quality of the distribution service for consumers in the served areas.
Also last year, the conclusions of the “20HyGrid” pilot project were presented, through which the technical feasibility of supplying homes with a mixture of natural gas (80%) and hydrogen (20%) through the current natural gas infrastructure was tested, both in laboratory conditions and in the field, in order to identify a solution for the partial decarbonization of the heating sector.
On the electricity side, investments of over 490 million lei (99 million euros) were made, the length of the modernized network being over 2,000 km. At the same time, the network was extended by 453 km, with over 22,000 new consumers connected.
More than 90% of the steps towards the digitalization of the distribution network have been completed and the full implementation of the ADMS (Advanced Distribution Management System) platform is very close to being completed. ADMS integrates into a single digital platform the functionalities required for the operational control, programming and operational planning processes of high, medium and low voltage electrical distribution networks, up to the consumer level.
Smart metering
The MDM/MDC digital platform (Measurement Data Management/Data Collection Management), with a capacity to integrate 1,600,000 meters, became operational. At the end of 2024, over half a million (516,000) smart meters were already installed and integrated into the platform.
124 transformer stations out of the 133 operated by Delgaz Grid are integrated into SCADA (Supervisory Data Acquisition and Control), as well as over 600 automated transformer stations in the urban area. Delgaz Grid has also reached more than 1,900 SCADA-integrated remote-controlled equipment (splitters and reclosers) installed in medium-voltage overhead networks.
Grid performance indicators
As a result of year-on-year investments, the main distribution service performance indicators, SAIDI and SAIFI, have improved significantly over the last 10 years. Thus, SAIDI (indicator related to the duration of interruptions) has decreased by almost six times to 69.81 minutes in 2024 from 410.24 minutes in 2014, and SAIFI (indicator related to the number of interruptions) has decreased by about eight times to 0.77 last year from 5.98 in 2014.
The results have placed Delgaz Grid in 2021, 2022 and 2023 in first place with the lowest duration of interruptions in electricity supply among Romanian distribution operators, according to ANRE reports.
