The Government estimates that the National Energy Strategy and the Integrated National Plan for Energy and Climate Changes (PNIESC) will be approved by the end of April, said the Minister for Economy, Energy and Business Environment, Virgil Popescu, during the hearings in the joint committees of the Parliament.

He stressed that the National Integrated Energy and Climate Change Plan should be coordinated with the national energy strategy. “The National Integrated Energy and Climate Change Plan must be clearly coordinated with the Energy Strategy. In the National Plan we had a target of 30.7% renewable energy, in the National Strategy, which was in the Environment (ministry) approval phase, it was of 28%. We cannot go to the Commission, on one hand, with one target, and on the strategy side with another target. We had at the Ministry of the Environment three to four discussions, to unlock the Plan, because you must know that the Integrated National Plan Energy and Climate Change is not belonging to the Ministry of the Economy, but to the Economy and Energy plus the Ministry of the Environment. Together we make this plan, we must line it up with the strategy.

”We will also change the energy strategy, in the sense that we will remove … projects that are blocked at the Environment (ministry) and leave guidelines – so much hydro production, so much hydro by pumping, so much gas energy, so much nuclear energy, so that we also unlock the strategy,” said Virgil Popescu, quoted by Agerpres. The Minister also said that Romania will become an energy hub, and this aspect will be included in PNIESC.