Energy Minister: Romania could connect 1373 MW of new power by 2024

Sebastian Burduja, Minister of Energy, said that Romania will be able to connect 1,373MW of new electricity to the national grid before year's end, with most of this coming from solar parks.

The European Union state wants to reduce its carbon emissions in order to meet the emissions reduction targets of the bloc and to also ensure supply security, which is a growing concern since Russia invaded Ukraine.

The country's electricity is generated using a mixture of gas, coal and renewable energy sources. It has also committed to phase out brown coal under the EU-funded recovery aid package. However, at present, the energy ministry wants an extension.

Burduja, after a meeting on winter readiness in the energy sector, told reporters that "by year's end we expect to be connected to other capacities totaling 1,373MW." This means that EU funds and other investment are showing results.

New generation power plants include retrofitting an existing lignite power plant worth 330MW in Rovinari, as well as building a gas-fired plant in Midia that could be worth 70MW. He added that the long-delayed Iernut gas fired power plant, which is 430 MW in size, would not be completed as originally expected this year.

He said: "We are seeing incredible developments in the solar park area. By year-end, we could have another 683 MW installed. Adding to the 228MW already connected this past year, we're talking about almost 1000 MW of new solar this coming year."

He said that power storage could reach 110 MW in the next year. (Reporting and editing by Deepababington, Luiza Ilie)

(source: Reuters)