Romanian government adopted on Thursday the emergency granting a state aid worth 664.1 million lei to Oltenia Energy Complex, for the acquisition of emission certificates related to last year, according to a release of the Ministry of Energy.

“We are continuing the restructuring process of the CEO, and the sums allocated today come to confirm that we comply with the plan agreed with the European Commission. CEO is an important pillar of the energy system in our country, but we must also complete the restructuring plan to produce clean energy,” said Virgil Popescu, Minister of Energy.

Thus, the Ministry of Finance will allocate in the form of a grant, at the request of the Ministry of Energy, the amount of 664.106 million lei.

The amount will be provided by the Ministry of Finance from revenues resulting from privatization, for the partial acquisition of greenhouse gas emission certificates for 2020.

The payment of CO2 certificates is part of the Restructuring Plan and their non-payment leads to the compromise of the plan and the reform in electricity production as well as the entire decarbonization process and the transition to climate neutrality, according to Agerpres.

With an available capacity of 3,570 MW, the Oltenia Energy Complex is one of the largest energy producers in Romania and contributes to ensuring national energy security, mainly in extreme moments of prolonged drought or in winter periods with low temperatures, periods in which the contribution of coal-fired power plants to the production structure increases to almost 35%.