Bogdan Tudorache

Nuclear power production and carbon capture and storage investments will be included in the contracts for difference mechanism (CfD), Elena Popescu, general manager of the Energy Ministry, told a conference organized by EPG. At the same time, the ministry is not satisfied with the current mechanism of power purchase agreements (PPAs), which are not agreed by investors because they are not „bankable” – that is, banks can not fund guaranteed projects based on them, she said.

The Ministry of Energy has launched in public debate a support mechanism for investors with low-carbon technologies called Contracts for Difference (CfD), a mechanism in place in some Western countries.

The contribution will be included as a separate item in the final customers’ invoice, applied to all electricity consumers. Expenditures for the implementation of the mechanism will be recognized by the National Regulatory Authority for Energy “through transparent mechanisms, subject to separate monitoring and reporting of the expenditures,” says the Ministry of Energy, in the document published online.

At the same time, a PPA mechanism regulation project is under public debate.