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Romania needs electricity produced in thermal power plants
Prime Minister Victor Ponta says Romania needs electricity produced in thermal power plants to reach its goal of energy independence.
Ponta said on Thursday in Hunedoara (northwest of Bucharest) that two years ago the Oltenia and Hunedoara complex energy units were on the brink of bankruptcy and the government made huge efforts to rescue these companies and keep them in the energy market.
'In 2012, both the Oltenia Energy Complex - which I know better because it's in the region I represent [as an MP] - and the Hunedoara Energy Complex were practically bankrupt; they were good to shut down. Well, since 2012 we made huge efforts - and we're continuing to - because we must save these thermal power producers. Romania has this huge advantage of having all the types of electricity - hydro, nuclear, renewable and thermal - and I'm not talking only about saving jobs, which of course is essential; I'm talking about our strategy of becoming energy independent; of course, for this we need the thermal power production,' Ponta declared.
He pointed out that the steps taken by the government aim at giving a clear perspective to these energy complexes and to their technological overhaul, so as to result in competitive production costs.
'The price of the energy produced in Hunedoara will never be the same as the price of the windmill in Dobrogea [southeast]. It's logic! It's impossible to want that! But managing to secure a place on the market for all four types of energy, from my point of view, is a fundamental goal for Romania's energy independence,' the prime minister concluded.
Ponta was accompanied by the Economy Minister Constantin Nita and by the Minister Delegate for Energy Razvan Nicolescu in a visit to several major economic units in Hunedoara county, including the ArcelorMittal ironworks and the Energy Complex.