ELCEN would like to invest in new technologies to produce less polluting energy, but because it has to pay hundreds of millions of euros for CO2 certificates and because it has to recover several hundred million euros from Termoenergetica, it is unable to implement its plans, said Adrian Tudora, deputy general director of the company, at the conference “Romanian Energy Market – Facts of 2025”..
“ELCEN has paid, from 2020 to date, €485 million for the purchase of CO₂ allowances related to greenhouse gas emissions. If we didn’t have these green energy transition levies, I think we could have profitably invested this money in secure and steady energy sources. The energy future is not just about technology, but also about strategy, vision and adaptability. Flexibility, innovation and collaboration between industry, regulators and investors will define success in the coming years. In addition, a very topical issue today is also the volatility of the energy market,” said Tudora.
He recalled that the price of natural gas has recently reached 400 lei/MW, an increase of 72% since the beginning of the year. Compared to the price of gas in Europe, it is about 44% higher. Environmental requirements have required modifications to existing installations. Apart from CET Bucharest West, most of the plants in operation are 40, 50 or even 60 years old. At the same time, Termoenergetica’s debts to ELCEN currently total 1.4 billion lei.
ELCEN has ambitious objectives, for which it has signed financing contracts from the Modernisation Fund worth €362 million. One of the projects, carried out at CET Sud, involves the construction of a combined-cycle, gas-turbine power plant with a capacity of 275 MW of electricity and 214 MW of heat. At CET Grozăvești, the company plans to build a simple cycle power plant, equipped with a gas turbine, with a capacity of 32 MW of electricity and 41 MW of heat. In parallel, at CET Progresul, the development of a high-efficiency cogeneration power plant based on thermal engines with a capacity of 72 MW electric and 72 MW thermal is planned.
Upcoming projects include the implementation of photovoltaic panels for own consumption at CET București Progresul, the exploration of storage potential in CET Sud and CET Vest by converting former fuel oil tanks into heat accumulators. The state company has also signed a memorandum with SAGE Geosystems for the elaboration of a feasibility study for the integration of geothermal energy. ELCEN also aims to explore heat pump solutions and, in the long term, waste-to-energy.
“In terms of investment prospects for new capacity development, against this backdrop, the fundamental question is where is the energy sector investing and what technologies is the energy sector moving towards. There is a growing interest in renewables, but they do not work consistently without balancing solutions, and such solutions lead to cogeneration. Future energy storage units will also require constant energy consumption. At ELCEN level, there is openness to implement projects with modern technologies, but this process should be done gradually, so that through pilot projects it will be possible to learn how to use these technologies and improve or adapt them to local conditions,” he added.
With new regulations imposed by the government last December, employees are losing wages and the company is becoming less and less attractive as a labour market. This may lead to a reduction in the already limited number of experienced specialists, as the younger generation is not showing an increased interest in this field.
The conference “Romanian Energy Market – Facts of 2025” was organized by Energynomics with the support of our partners: Alive Capital, Elektra Renewable Support, Enevo Group, Hidroelectrica, Nano Energies. Software Media WEBUS 4 ENERGY, Think Blu Solution.