While EnergoBit was involved in the first wave of renewables in projects of about 2 GW, it has now obtained ATRs (technical approvals for grid connection) of about 2.7 GW, and will reach the 3GW threshold next month, said Florin Pop, General Manager EnergoBit, at the Energy Strategy Summit 2022, an event organized by Energynomics.
“Wave 2 has already started. Some of this work is already underway. Many projects have reached the ready-to-build phase and we expect that in Q3-Q4 a lot of projects will reach the market. We have large projects in the pipeline totaling around 6 GW. And in terms of small projects, we have more than 100 small to medium-sized projects for which applications have already been submitted,” he added.
“EnergoBit is a privileged group, being involved in several, complex areas of projects: the design area, the production of energy equipment, entrepreneurship, in the smart area, in the maintenance area, being involved in both large and small projects,” he said.
“Entrepreneurs in Romania want legislative stability and predictability and, if they exist, they are open to invest. At the same time, as managers and entrepreneurs, we also want a dialogue between all the parties involved. But we should have more courage. I think many entrepreneurs abroad have more courage than domestic ones: we don’t have a perfect situation in the market, yes, the network is not ideal, the legislation is not ideal, we don’t have as much manpower as we should, we don’t have all the qualifications we would like – but these are, at the end of the day, the job of an executive (director). And private companies find solutions. I give you an example: in the first wave of renewable development, our company was not involved in the study and design part. Now we have about 60 specialists working only on studies and design. The second wave of renewables already started two years ago. We are on the crest of the wave, which will grow. We don’t have electricians? We have accredited and set up our own electricians’ school. We have partnerships with the Technical University of Cluj and it has become so well known that it has been requested by other technical universities who want to do the same partnership in other regions. Solutions exist – let there be projects! Let’s have the courage, especially local entrepreneurs, not to wait for everything to be perfect, because during execution everything is dynamic and evolves, and let’s be more confident, we Romanians, about the future of energy in Romania,” he added.
He explained that most of the projects are developed and maintained locally, with Romanian staff who have received local training.
“Yes, more can be done, but let’s be brave, let’s be optimistic about the future, let’s not expect everything to be perfect, let’s admit that there are imperfections, but let’s be optimistic that these imperfections can be overcome through dialogue and collaboration.”
Energy Strategy Summit 2022 was organized by Energynomics with the support of its partners: ABB, BCR, CE Oltenia, Chimcomplex, Eaton, Electrica Furnizare, Electroalfa, EnergoBit, Enevo Group, European Energy, Eximbank, EY, Franklin Templeton, Horváth, ING, Hidroelectrica, Marsh, MET Energy România, Nuclearelectrica, BCR Pensii, Photomate, Powertis, Renomia Gallagher, Schneider Electric, Transelectrica, Volt, wpd.
