The healthy solution to overcome this crisis is investments, and the amounts available in new photovoltaic and wind power production capacities amount to 457 million euro, stated, on Friday, the State Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, George Niculescu, at Solar Energy Bucharest Summit.
“I will start by telling you a few words about the measures that the Ministry of Energy is taking in the short term and in the medium and long term to combat the energy crisis we are in. A crisis that, from my point of view, is centered on two levels and we are talking about security of supply and prices. In the short term, the Government of Romania, through the Ministry of Energy and together with the Parliament, introduced a series of measures to protect a good part of domestic consumers and non-domestic consumers in regarding the large increases in electricity and natural gas prices. You are well aware of Ordinance 118, Ordinance 27 and Ordinance 119… Short-term measures to try to mitigate the impact that these utility price increases have on the lives of of our day-to-day life. In the medium and long term, personally, I believe that the healthy solution to address this crisis is investment. It has been a very long time since we have seen such sums available for to be invested in new electricity production capacities and I want to refer to the call for projects that the Ministry of Energy concluded on May 22, of 457 million euros, for the installation of approximately 950 megawatts of photovoltaic and wind. Because we are at a conference on photovoltaics, I must mention that there are 753 projects, I hope I’m not mistaken, under evaluation at the moment,” said Niculescu.
According to the official, investments are also needed in energy transport capacities from the place of production to consumers.
“We produce more energy for nothing if we don’t have the capacity to transport it from the place of production to the place of consumption. That’s exactly why Transelectrica National Company benefited from considerable financing, of over 400 million euros, to develop capacities, to strengthen transport capacity, so that we do not have syncopes in terms of connecting production capacity. We also have at our disposal the Modernization Fund, with a budget of approximately 1.2 billion euros per year, a fund that mainly targets investments in new low-emission electricity production capacities. Our intention is to focus on the energy transition. Next year, in 2023, we are revising the renewable energy target from 30.7%, and we intend to increase it. We also provide funds from the PNRR and the Modernization Fund to be able to install new production capacities, to be able to transport new megawatts, to distribute new megawatts. We will have a line of special financing for distribution operators, worth approximately one billion euro,” said George Niculescu, according to Agerpres.
Regarding a possible overtaxation of the new electricity production capacities, the state secretary from the Ministry of Energy claimed that such a measure is not taken into account.
“First of all, we are in two different situations. What happened between 2013 and 2015 with the many legislative changes, the justification was only material and economic. It was found that the support scheme was considered to be too generous and tried a steep adjustment of this support scheme. Today, we are in a war, we have a war on the border and with all these things, since Ordinance 118, Law 259 last November, the new electricity production capacities have stipulated that they would not be overtaxed. Such an overtaxation, somehow, would contradict the investment plans we talked about earlier. We would no longer be able to talk about the intention to attract new investors (…). As I said, if later we come and overtax the new production capacities put into operation, we know very well that Ordinance 119 produces effects until August 31, and such a measure, as written in the Ordinance of Emergency, is not taken into account. From the discussions I participated in, I can tell you that this was not discussed,” added Niculescu.
The Employers’ Organization of Renewable Energy Producers from Romania (PATRES) organized, on Friday, the Solar Energy Bucharest Summit, the first regional event addressed to the solar energy producing industry.