Romania could recover, in the next three years, over 60% of the loss of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) caused by the pandemic and can generate approximately one thousand jobs per million inhabitants, through renewable energy investment projects, they claim EY Romania consultants.

“Potential projects in the field of wind (on and offshore), solar and hydro energy could bring globally a major change in reducing emissions, as well as create 10 million jobs and generate economic growth worth about 1.9 trillion USD. In addition, through key policies, states could stimulate private sector investment to cover more than 90% of total investment opportunities, accelerating growth with a minimum contribution of public resources, an EY study carried out in 47 countries, including Romania, recently showed,” says Mihai Drăghici, Consulting director at EY Romania.

According to the report, GDP has declined worldwide in 2020 due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but through investment projects, a substantial part of the economic losses of more than 2.2 trillion dollars could be reduced or recovered – caused by the pandemic in all countries included in the study – and would lay the foundations for sustainable economic growth supported by renewable energy sources.

As such, the flow of start-up projects could provide an injection of more than $1.9 trillion into the global economy over a three-year period, which would account for about 85% of GDP loss by 2020.

In Romania, the impact that these projects could have on the local market goes beyond the argument of energy supply and enters the sustainability agenda: investments in renewable energy could allow a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions, reaching up to 17% from the target of nationally established contributions for 2030, committed by the Paris Agreement.