Small localities in Romania are deindustrialized also because they do not receive state funding, said Vasile Delicoti, mayor of Poarta Albă commune.
“We need to revive the industry in Dobrogea. Unfortunately, small local authorities do not have the money to build the infrastructure required by investors and we needed funds from the Ministry of Development. So far we have not received any European money. In Romania, investments are financed from the cities, because this is the policy from Brussels. We are behind other counties where investments were made in the industrial area, but it was neglected here because the former leaders thought that tourism was enough,” said Delicoti, at the conference “Digitalization and Energy Efficiency – Constanța”.
He added that a locality the size of Poarta Albă, in order to access 5 million euro in non-reimbursable funds, has to submit five applications for funding, while a town in Romania can access 10-15 million euro in a single project.
Poarta Albă has a growing population, from 4,500 to over 6,000, and the mayor estimates that the number of inhabitants could reach 7,000. The town is also being sought by investors in renewable energy projects. So far, two large photovoltaic projects and one smaller one have been announced.
According to the mayor, many green energy projects in Dobrogea have not received ATRs due to the lack of energy transmission and distribution networks. In fact, the Poarta Albă town hall itself has been trying for 12 years to build its own photovoltaic park, but has so far been hampered by the lack of cooperation from the local energy distribution company.
“We have completed the energy efficiency of public buildings and now we want to go further and produce green energy as well. We started 12 years ago the 300 kW photovoltaic park project, but Enel Dobrogea is moving very slowly,” Delicoti added.
The conference “Digitalization and Energy Efficiency – Constanța” was organized by Energynomics, with the support of our partners: ADC, Elektra Renewable Support, FPPG, WALDEVAR Energy.