Bogdan Badea, Chairman of the Hidroelectrica Directorate, expects the profit in 2018 to exceed 2 billion lei, despite the drought over the year, which will persist in the coming months. In the first three quarters, the company has already recorded net production and profits higher than those for the full year 2017.

“We have beaten all records. For the first nine months, we had operating revenues of 3.2 billion lei, similar to those we had in 2017, and the gross profit was 1.98 billion lei, compared to 1.6 billion lei for full year 2017”, said Bogdan Badea, at a conference organized by Focus Energetic.

Badea said that in the first nine months of the year the company produced 14.19 TWh, more than the volumes in last year (14.04 TWh). According to the general manager of Hidroelectrica, the filling rate of the water reservoirs was at 70% at the end of October, much higher than the 57% registered in October 2017, even if “since the end of July we have a continuous drought”.

”Our business philosophy however involves more than just getting profits, as we have emphasized repeatedly”, said Badea, for energynomics.ro, in March, and he continued: “The focus of our priorities are the projects for refurbishment and the realization of the yearly maintenance schedules, but also the development of new projects and solving the situation of investments with complex function. We are also keenly following the identification of new investment opportunities in the country or in nearby regions”.

At the conference organized by Focus Energetic, the Chairman of the Hidroelectrica Directorate presented the first concrete business plan data for the next five years: 5.56 billion ROL for investments, including “new investments, upgrading, upgrading, capitalization maintenance and acquisition of holdings, Hidroelectrica’s portfolio expansion “. The plan foresees additional generation capacities for Hidroelectrica of 580 MW, of which over 200 MW would be based on renewable solar or wind sources.

Responding to a question from energynomics.ro, Bogdan Badea suggested that the investment volume of 5.6 billion lei for the next five years would not be jeopardized by the pressure of the majority shareholder for dividend payment at maximum quota as it was the case in recent years. “The investment volume we have assumed is a prudent one, adapted to the situation in Romania, where we face an excessive bureaucracy at the level of the authorities in regards to all permits or authorizations. Changes in legislation in many areas affect Hidroelectrica and the economic indicators of all investments, so we decided to go on with an investment plan better adapted to reality in the field”, Bogdan Badea explained.