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Hidroelectrica: We cannot have low energy price and, at the same time, make investments
The price of energy paid by final consumers cannot at the same time be low and also cover the necessary investments in the energy sector, and the difference is at the level of a pack of cigarettes, Bogdan Badea, general manager of Hidroelectrica declared on Tuesday.
"The free market is the only one that can give a fair price to the consumer and the price that we need to make investments. Do not think that we can have a very low price for energy and we can make investments at the same time. We must have a fair price to meet both needs," Badea said.
"If this is the price we have to pay for our children's future so as to have clean energy, to live in a cleaner environment, I, for one, am very willing to pay it. And more than that. But we also need a a little courage in calling things by their real name: if we want investments, they must be supported by a fair tariff and financing mechanisms. Before we think of all kinds of financing schemes, such as the feed-in tariff, contracts for difference, green certificates ee need to access European grants," the Hidroelectrica official told the Focus Energetic conference.
Badea went on to say that he expects the market to be much more aggressive with liberalization, from January 1, and Hidroelectrica is preparing to be a very serious competitor in the supply segment to final consumers.
Last Thursday, the Minister of Energy, Virgil Popescu, declared for AGERPRES that Hidroelectrica could directly provide the population with much cheaper electricity, which could lead to lower tariffs throughout the market.
The electricity market will be fully liberalized from January 1, 2021, and final prices for household consumers will no longer be set by the regulator.