RSS
Timmermans: I hope Romania will soon have a plan fully giving up coal
Romania should soon come up with a plan fully giving up the use of coal to produce energy, as this resource has no future, said Frans Timmermans, first vice president of the European Commission at a press conference.
“I have to be brutally honest: coal has no future. Why does the European coal industry have problems? Because of purely economic causes, because there is no demand for coal. It is sinking. There were subsidies of billions and billions which could have been better used to create a future for people who are working in the mining industry today. If we add to that the carbon print of coal, we must be honest there is no future for coal,” the European official showed.
But there is a future for the people who are now working I that industry, he continued.“We must clearly say it and we should mobilize the just transition mechanism to be sure that mining regions are redefined, that there will be new possibilities there,” Timmermans said.
“I hope Romania will soon come up with a plan of fully giving up coal and the way in which that will be done and I assure you that we, at the European Commission, will be on Romania's side to make that thing happen,” he added.
According to him, in some member states, Romania included, to pass from the present situation ,when coal and wood predominate as energy producing sources, to a situation based on renewable sources, needs natural gas as transition resource.
He recommended Romania to use the Recovery Fund for massive investments in renewable energy.
“Anyway, Romania has a very big capacity for terrestrial wind energy and a huge offshore wind potential, as well as solar energy. I think it is very important that you invest in these directions. Gas should be a transition, not a permanent situation”, said the vice president of the European Commission.
Asked about which model should Romania follow about giving up coal, he indicated Greece. “Greece moved the quickest. It has lignite mines and will give them up in the years to come. We will be next to Greece, which will invest in renewables. In the same way, Germany has a good plan for giving up coal, not later than 2038. I would suggest Romanian officials to look at accords agreed with in Germany, because they do not involve just public authorities and coal industry, but also commercial associations and other players, local authorities, to set up a realistic plan for giving up coal, with social plans for companies and region remake plans,”said the European official at the conference ZF Power Summit.