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Updated National Integrated Plan in Energy and Climate Change next spring
The Ministry of Energy is in the process of updating the National Integrated Plan in the field of Energy and Climate Change (PNIESC), so that, in the spring of next year, we will have this plan up to date, which involved a "difficult coordination pulled by the collar effort of the other institutions involved", declared minister Sebastian Burduja, at the Romanian Renewable Energy Summit 2023.
"Romania is among the countries with the most ambitious decarbonization plan, it is among the countries with the most spectacular increase in the share of renewable energy in the energy mix, it is among the countries that give the world one of the best specialists in the energy sector," said Burduja.
At the same time, he emphasized that Romania is the first country to exploit gas in the Black Sea with Black Sea Oil and Gas, followed by Neptun Deep, adding that, in his opinion, Romania will be the first country to have wind power plants in the Black Sea, which is why the Offshore Wind Law was accelerated.
"That's why we accelerated the law for offshore wind to the maximum, it is under interministerial approval, we have a very lively dialogue with the Ministry of the Environment and some elements of this draft law that will be adopted by the Government and, later, sent to the Parliament, with a deadline for adoption this fall," the minister pointed out.
At the same time, Burduja stated that, at the level of the Ministry of Energy, it is desired to carry out a global study on the areas that can be developed, to take into account all environmental aspects and to define the areas where these capacities can be built.
The minister also referred to "another important scheme", namely "contract for differences" (CFD).
"I think you are aware of this mechanism. It sets a reference price for 15 years. When the market price is above the reference price, the investor pays the difference to a fund, to the counterpart of the Romanian state, which will be managed by OPCOM (Electricity and Natural Gas Market Operator). When the price is below, the counterparty pays the investor, so as to ensure this stability for 15 years," he explained.
In his opinion, it is very important to have competition.
"I was with president Iohannis in Portugal the other day. Portugal managed to set, according to the Portuguese (Energy, ed. n.) minister, the world record for the price set through CFDs very low. This means that it managed to make an extremely competitive procedure. The entrepreneurs came, they competed and brought the reference price very low," Sebastian Burduja said.
He highlighted that all the premises are favorable for the development of renewable energy in Romania. Currently, its share in the energy mix is approximately 70%.