Radio România Internațional

Tag: gas storage

  • Winter heating in Romania

    Winter heating in Romania

    The energy minister, Sebastian Burduja, has given assurances that Romania’s gas deposits are full to the brim and the country will be able to get through the winter season without resorting to imports. He has added that Romania does not import Russian gas at all, and when needed, the country turns to Turkey and Azerbaijan. In fact, Romania follows the trend of the entire European Union. A European Commission report has recently showed that the EU’s dependence on Russian gas fell from 45% in 2021 to just 15% in 2023. And the downward trend in this dependence continued throughout this year.

     

    As for the situation in the country, Sebastian Burduja explained, for Radio Romania: “Today we have 3.280 billion cubic meters of gas stored in our gas storage facilities. That means a 103.29% degree of filling. We therefore have all the necessary capacity to be able to get through the winter season without resorting to imported gas. Even in the event of a harsher winter, I am convinced that we are ready to have enough gas and supply it to the Romanians”.

     

    The minister has also said that people who have difficulties in paying bills will continue to be protected. ‘Romanians should not be affected this winter either by the fear of bills, or the cold, or the temperature. They will benefit from gas supply, and the bills will continue to be capped, exactly as they were last winter’ the minister added.

     

    In this context, the Intelligent Energy Association (AEI) launched on Wednesday, in partnership with the Energy Ministry, the second edition of the “Houses with Heat” project, through which it aims to distribute firewood needed to heat homes in winter for families in difficulty. 3.5 million households in Romania are heated with wood. 80,000 are only in Bucharest and in the neighboring county of Ilfov, and over 7,000 are inhabited by vulnerable families, according to the data of the “Registry of Heat-Free Houses”, drafted by the Intelligent Energy Association.

     

    Adrian Halpert, director general at the Red Cross, believes that this program is even more important as the prices of energy and energy resources have continued to rise: “Energy comfort should not be a luxury for anyone. A minimum of energy comfort is a basic issue, which we must all have, and, after all, if you don’t have it, it affects human dignity. Energy prices continued to rise also for energy resources, such as wood. I hope to reach several thousand families this winter”.

     

    According to official statistics, 39% of Romanians are in the energy poor category. The authorities assure that, even after April 1, 2025, until the prices of natural gas and electricity are capped, they will take support measures for vulnerable people. (LS)

  • Report on renewable energy in the EU

    Report on renewable energy in the EU

    The European Commission has published a report on the energy situation in the EU. A first conclusion is the fact that the EU has managed to massively disconnect itself from the Russian gas supply, and community consumption has dropped significantly. The EU’s energy production is currently led by renewables, which supplied half of the electricity in the first part of the year. Wind energy alone has surpassed gas-based energy production, and nuclear energy, considered clean energy, is in first place. Primary energy consumption also decreased by 4.1%, thanks to efficiency measures. A decrease in gas consumption was also recorded, also due to efficiency measures. Thus, the European average shows a decrease of 18% compared to 2021. Also, in the field of gas, the EU managed to reduce dependence on Russia from 45% to 18% and now has new sources of supply from other regions.

     

    At the same time, it already reached its winter gas storage target of 90% in August, well ahead of the November 1st deadline. However, energy and gas prices are a problem. Although stable and reduced way below the peak values reported during the crisis, they remain high for the European industry, an industry that competes with that of the United States and China, where prices are sometimes three times lower. The European Commissioner Kadri Simson says that prices will be lower after the implementation of the energy market reform, which will reduce the input of expensive fossil sources. As to the environment, the report shows encouraging signs. Between 1992-2022, the European Union’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 32.5%, while the economy grew by around 67%.

     

    According to the document, Romania has an energy mix, and this includes all types of energy, 71% based on fossil fuel, so it is in a worse situation than the European average, of 69%. On the other hand, however, the electricity mix is ​​better than that of the EU – 44% renewable as compared to the EU average of under 40%. As an overview, the report concludes that Romania has a limited production capacity of clean technologies. Moreover, public investments in research and development were halved between 2015 and 2022. A strong point is the reduced dependence on imported gas, given that Romania is the second European producer. Another strength is the fact that in the last 2 years it has managed to reduce gas consumption above the European average without affecting industrial activity. A third strong point is the gas storage capacity for winter, and Romania’s gas storage facilities are currently full. However, energy poverty remains one of the unsolved problems. 13.6% of Romania’s population had problems paying the bill, and 12.5% ​​could not afford to heat the house properly.  The EC reminds member states to submit the new energy and environment plans. Only 11 states have sent the documents, and Romania is not among them. (LS)

     

  • Romania has sufficient natural gas reserves

    Romania has sufficient natural gas reserves

    Consistent with the objective of ending its dependence on Moscow’s fossil fuels, established in the context of the situation generated by Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the European Union continues to apply the necessary measures decided in Brussels. These relate, among other things, to the establishment of common gas storage sites. And the process, launched a few months ago, is progressing well, at a better pace than the one envisaged. The common European gas storage sites have already been filled to 84% of their capacity, which means more than the set objective, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in September. Our friends in the Baltics have worked hard to end their dependency on Russia. They have invested in renewable energy, in LNG terminals, and in interconnectors. This costs a lot. But dependency on Russian fossil fuels comes at a much higher price. We have to get rid of this dependency all over Europe Ursula von der Leyen said.



    At the time of the announcement, gas storage sites in Romania had reached the minimum filling threshold of 80%, provided for in the new regulation of the European Commission as part of the preparation measures for the cold season. And in the month that has passed since then, the filling level increased by another 11%. On Sunday, Romania had more than 2.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas in storage, which means almost 91% of the country’s storage capacity, announced Transgaz, which stated that gas storage would continue until October 30. Meanwhile, Romania’s gas imports fell by over 20% in the first eight months of 2022, compared to the same period of last year. And the National Strategy and Forecast Commission estimates that the trend will be maintained for the entire year.



    In addition, domestic natural gas production, which in the first eight months was by 4.6% lower as compared to the same period of 2021, will increase by almost 2% as against last year. The figures published by the National Institute of Statistics show, on the other hand, a decrease in electricity consumption in Romania by 5.3% in the first eight months of this year, as compared to the same period of 2021. This reduction led to an increase of electricity export by almost 85 million kWh. The figures also reveal that, while public lighting registered an increase of almost 4%, population consumption decreased by 7.7%. The data announced on Friday showed that Romania exported 1,100 MW, mainly due to the high production obtained by the wind farms. The total energy production was 6,300 MW, and the consumption of approximately 5,200 MW. (LS)

  • Paramentul European aprobă planurile de refacere a rezervelor de gaze naturale

    Paramentul European aprobă planurile de refacere a rezervelor de gaze naturale

    Dezbaterea recentă pe tema Gas Storage reconfirmă angajamentul
    puternic al membrilor Parlamentului
    European de a-i proteja pe cetățenii europeni și industria noastră, de șantajul
    Rusiei.


    Cu Acorduri de
    solidaritate între statele membre, cu ajutorul mecanismului de achiziții comune
    de gaze la nivelul UE toți cetățenii statelor membre vor fi protejați.


    Crisian Bușoi , europarlamentar explică
    eforturile ce s-au făcut în acest sens:




    La 7
    aprilie, această Cameră a încredințat Comisiei ITRE să negocieze acest act
    legislativ crucial, iar la 19 mai am ajuns la un acord politic între
    colegislatori, după lungi ore de negocieri în ceea ce a fost un al doilea
    trilog. Legislația, dacă va fi adoptată, va intra în vigoare în iulie. Oferă
    statelor membre posibilitatea de a lua numeroase măsuri pentru a-și atinge
    obiectivul, dar dorește, de asemenea, să se asigure că măsurile care nu sunt
    bazate pe piață sunt utilizate numai atunci când piața nu poate face asta
    singură.

    Se va asigura că depozitele noastre de gaze sunt umplute la o
    capacitate de minim 80% până în noiembrie anul acesta, urmărind 85% și, de anul
    viitor, minimum 90%.

    Mai presus de toate, acest acord arată voința instituțiilor
    UE și a statelor membre de a acționa împreună în solidaritate pentru a
    consolida rezistența și pregătirea UE împotriva amenințărilor externe și pentru
    protecția cetățenilor europeni.

    În plus, înțelegând gravitatea situației
    generate de războiul rusesc împotriva Ucrainei, am introdus o procedură de
    certificare prin care fiecare operator de depozitare va trebui să demonstreze
    că nu reprezintă un pericol pentru securitatea aprovizionării sau a securității
    noastre naționale dacă dorește păstrează proprietatea asupra depozitului.     Nu le
    vom permite celor care doresc să influențeze și să ne amenințe modul de viață
    să acceseze infrastructura noastră critică.

    Am introdus, de asemenea, un
    mecanism voluntar de achiziție comună de gaze și felicit Comisia Europeană
    pentru că s-a deplasat foarte rapid pentru a numi directorul general adjunct și
    pentru a înființa această platformă și platformele regionale, pentru că avem
    nevoie de asta pentru a compensa posibilul preț. sporuri derivate din
    obligaţiile de depozitare-umplere.

    Camera a precizat clar că măsurile pentru a
    ne îndeplini obiectivele de umplere vor fi luate cu ideea clară că trebuie să
    ne protejăm securitatea aprovizionării și să ne diversificăm sursele. Din
    păcate, războiul continuă și jocurile politice jucate de Rusia cu rezervele
    noastre de gaze au confirmat doar că acțiunile noastre sunt justificate și că
    mai devreme decât mai târziu trebuie să ne renunțăm la dependența noastră
    toxică de combustibilii ruși, combustibilii fosili.

    Munca noastră va continua în
    această direcție și prin pachetul de gaze și hidrogen din decembrie, planul
    REPowerEU și punerea în aplicare rapidă a măsurilor Fit for 55.