The Government in Bucharest wants to quickly boost its electricity
output, and coal seems to be a solution to curb Romania’s dependency on Russian
energy imports. As a result, the Cabinet decided to restart the production
capacities of the Oltenia Energy Complex in the south. Another turbine expected
to produce 300 MW is expected to be rendered operational over the next period.
Moreover, by finalizing an investment project at the Iernut Power Plant in
central Romania, another 210 MW are expected to be produced by the end of the
year. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said efforts are being made to achieve an important
target, namely securing energy independence, all the more so as Romania has the
resources to do it.
The ruling coalition has had talks in recent days, at the
level of the Energy Ministry, but also with managers of energy companies,
including with representatives of American companies willing to develop modular
nuclear energy facilities. Liberal leader, Florin Cîţu, in turn said Romania already has alternatives to
fuel imports from Russia in order to produce energy, and one of these resources
is coal. In thix context, Florin Cîţu recalled that 600
people will be hired back in the mining sector, in order to increase the output
capacity of this sector. On the other hand, the DEPOGAZ company has launched a
public auction two projects for increasing its capacity to store, extra and
inject natural gas. At the same time, the Government plans on reintroducing the
minimum reserve amidst tensions sparked on the market by the Russian invasion
of Ukraine.
The two projects at DEPOGAZ will boost the storage capacity by 450
million cubic meters per day. Director Vasile Cârstea says aggregate storage
and onshore production could secure deliveries of over 60 million cubic meters
per day, which would be tantamount to the amount of Russian gas imported. In
this context, Liberal leader, Florin Cîțu announced that the offshore bill, set
to greenlight the exploration of gas deposits in the Black Sea, is nearly ready
and will be voted as a top priority. The Liberal leader also said there are
companies that will be extracting gas shortly after the bill is passed. Romania
has enough fuel reserves, and there is no reason for fuel prices to increase
overnight, the authorities say, after on Wednesday night people queued up to
refuel. Energy Minister, Virgil Popescu, said this is the result of fake news
spread on social media. (VP)