On Monday, the Senate plenary debated the simple motion entitled “The Minister of Energy – a leader without direction, between green promises and gray realities” against Minister Sebastian Burduja, which called for his resignation.
The motion, submitted last week by the leader of the AUR senators, Petrișor Peiu, was rejected, with 54 votes “for” and 66 “against”.
A country that has energy is a strong country, on which others depend, that is why all investments are important, declared on Monday, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja, in the Senate plenary, during the debate on the simple motion against him.
“I cannot help but refer to the geopolitical, geostrategic dimension. The energy sector is vital, because a country that has energy, that is on its own two feet, is a country that is strong, on which others depend. That is why all these investments are important and I thank all those who honestly collaborated with us for the nuclear projects, and for the completion of the hydroelectric power plants in operation, and for the prosumers, because together we eliminated that tax on the sun,” said the minister, as quoted by Agerpres.
He specified on this occasion that the project of Units 2 and 4 from Cernavodă had to be done using Canadian technology because it already exists at Units 1 and 2 and a law was adopted in Parliament in this regard.
“At the beginning of this debate, I made a call to action and I probably didn’t think that times are different, the quality of debates in Parliament is different. And I didn’t even think that there could be voices from this microphone, in the Romanian Senate, who would lie to Romanians with such serenity, from small things. For example, in Iernut, the installed power is not 340, it’s 430 megawatts. (…) Units 3 and 4 were supposed to be built with Canadian technology, because that’s what we have there. And a law was also adopted in the Romanian Parliament, on an intergovernmental agreement. This contract was made based on the law. But, probably if it was with the Russians, no one would have anything to comment on, because it was good, like all the other surrounding states,” explained Sebastian Burduja.
He also mentioned that the cold season ended with a quantity of gas in storage of almost one billion normal cubic meters, respectively a filling rate of over 30%.
“You are talking with the utmost irresponsibility about a crisis in the energy sector. A former candidate for the Romanian presidency said in November that the warehouses are empty, people are left without gas and it’s cold, it’s winter. We ended the cold season with almost a billion normal cubic meters, a 30 or so percent filling rate. Do you know what the mandate of the Ministry of Energy is? To ensure compliance with European filling targets and we ensured them every time, including on February 1, by over 40%. It’s easy to misinform if there’s no one to answer you,” said the Minister of Energy.
Regarding electricity, Sebastian Burduja indicated that Romania also resorts to imports on certain days and that is why all the major investments launched must be put into operation. In this context, he emphasized that the largest gas power plant in Europe, with a capacity of 1,750 megawatts, is under construction at Mintia.
“Since when? A year and a half. A private investor came, all the equipment is delivered, and you will see that, optimistically, this year 1,050 megawatts, but certainly next year 1,750 megawatts will be put into operation”, the minister specified.
Regarding reactors 3 and 4 at Cernavoda, he emphasized that, after 20 years, the contract was finally signed and another 1,400 megawatts are being built at Cernavoda, while the Neptun Deep project is a chance not only for Romania to be fully energy independent, but it is also a chance for the Republic of Moldova, Hungary, and other states in our region, because otherwise “they will remain dependent on those who have the habit of turning off the tap when the world is dearer to them”.
“I want to thank you once again for giving me this opportunity. Indeed, it is an opportunity to come to the Senate Plenary and tell you these truths for you, those who want to listen to them, to analyze them with the numbers in front of them, and for the Romanians who follow us. (…) Not everyone is knowledgeable about the energy sector, it is complicated. Not everyone understands the difference between watts and volts, we also noticed today in these debates. It is very easy to lie to Romanians. Please do not do this, because almost every day the Ministry of Energy has to combat disinformation, either that we are emptying the dams, or that we are selling the country’s lakes, which is prohibited by the Constitution, or that gas deposits are being emptied, and other and other lies”, pointed out Sebastian Burduja.