Bogdan Tudorache

The Minister of Energy, Virgil Popescu, stated on Tuesday that the Mintia thermal power plant is a strategic thermal power plant, but “it was destroyed step by step, like the Hunedoara Energy Complex”, and that this will not happen again, currently at Mintia being sought an investor for a 800 MW cogeneration project.

“I think that the Mintia thermal power plant will have to be a concern for us, for all of us. I agree with you that it is a strategic thermal power plant. It is in a strategic node. Unfortunately, the Mintia thermal power plant, as it was the Hunedoara Energy Complex, has been robbed. Yes, it was robbed,” Virgil Popescu was quoted as saying by Agerpres.

“The Mintia thermal power plant will not be sold as scrap. The Mintia thermal power plant – there is a search for an investor to complete at least 800 megawatts – either gas, or hydrogen and gas, or any other technology of baseload production – that will be done. The same will happen with Paroşeni. (…) Regarding the Jiu Hidrocentrala Plant, yes, we had discussions with the Minister of Environment last week because we have a problem: there are given authorizations before defining parks, nature reserves. Parliament needs to support us, we need to come up with a legislative project and amend …for all investments that have started and are not completed, and then these investments that have had approvals and have been declared as parks – we need to do something there. Those investments need to be done. We need to complete the investments on Jiu river,” he said.