ANRE was ready to face a difficult 2021, with the liberalization of the electricity market and the entry into the second year of the liberalization of the gas market said ANRE Vice President Zoltan Nagy-Bege during the IX-th edition of the Energynomics Awards.
“We expected there to be an effervescence in the market, there would be some customer movements from one supplier to another, there would be complaints to ANRE… And we had complaints against suppliers, distributors, non-compliance with deadlines, non-reading of meters and issuance wrong invoices. Indeed, that was the first half of the year. After that, we received an even bigger challenge, and I am afraid that this challenge will remain not only in the history of the energy sector in Romania, but also in Europe. In the second half of the summer, the signs of this crisis began, with the rise in wholesale prices throughout Europe. We have reached values that are hard to imagine, hard to explain to consumers in the first place. I am afraid that this development, if it persists, Europe, with all its plans to decarbonise the energy sector, will suffer greatly in terms of competitiveness, ”said Nagy-Bege.
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However, any crisis brings in new opportunities. “Crises force us to come together, to reinvent ourselves, to apply solutions that under normal circumstances we do not think about and I am convinced that in a relatively short time we will have some beneficial effects of this crisis. In the case of Romania, I am convinced that there will be – and there are already signs – many new investors, especially interested in the production side, because on the supply side the competition seems to have disappeared – but on the production side there is an interest for new capacity, we see this in the connection notices issued or requested to network operators, and next year we will see the first beginnings of construction or commissioning of new capacities, in line with the European Commission and assumed by Romania, of investments in renewables,” he added.
“I am convinced that new technologies will be encouraged and embraced- if you want an example – hydrogen, which will become a fuel to be considered in the future, and it is possible that this price crisis will accelerate this process,” he added.
This year’s edition of Energynomics Awards was supported by Automatica, Axpo, CIS GAZ, Electrica, Electroalfa, Elgeka-Ferfelis, Enevo Group, EximBank, Hidroelectrica, ING Bank, MOL Romania, Nuclearelectrica, Phoenix Contact, Photomate, RENOMIA – Gallagher, Romgaz, SAS Romania, Schneider Electric, Transelectrica, Transgaz, Wiren.
