The minister of economy, Bogdan Ivan informed on Friday that he ordered through TransElectrica an independent study which should show if the coal-fired units at Complexul Energetic Oltenia closed down, there would ‘ really’ be a risk of blackout.Ivan was asked in a press conference, at the headquarters of PSD if there is the risk of blackout in case the authorities in Romania do not discuss with the representatives of the European Commission the postponement of the closure of coal-fired units. 'This week, more specifically on Wednesday, we held several negotiations at European Commission level on this extremely important topic. In line with the commitments made five years ago, when the NRRP was built, Romania has taken on the most aggressive decarbonization target in the entire European Union. This means that by the end of 2025, that is, in three and a half months' time, Romania should close all the coal-fired power plants it has in operation today. The condition was very simple - to replace them with other gas-fired plants', the minister explained. He added that Romania took almost two billio euro from this NRRP milestone but the gas units and the projects which had to be made with this money are ‘ paper projects’for the moment.'It's obvious that the European Commission, quite rightly, asked us - people, we gave you the money; either you give us the money back if you want to keep the coal-fired power plants, or you close them (...) We commissioned an independent study through TransElectrica which showed that Romania, at the moment, is facing four scenarios, the one in which we, if we were to close the coal-fired units at the Oltenia Power Complex, would be at real risk of blackout. I came with technical arguments. This study has over six thousand pages. My colleagues from the ministry, together with those from the European Commission, have been working weekends and nights over the last few weeks to be able to agree this study at a technical level', Bogdan Ivan said. ‘I hope the arguments brought will create the framework for Romania to avoid penalties for the non-closure and not meeting the commitments taken and we could keep at least three groups functioning and another two in reserve out of the five which today are part of the milestone’ he said.
The third edition of Taifas Balkan Film and Culture Festival, set to take place in Timișoara between October 13 and October 19, will include a retrospective dedicated to Romanian director Radu Jude. The public will be able to see the director's short films, in addition to a preview of his latest production, Dracula, presented at […]
Sursa International Light Art Festival, an event featuring immersive installations, projections, and light structures, will take place at the National Library of Romania from October 13 to October 19. The event brings together international and Romanian artists “in a visual dialogue about technology, architecture and sensitivity,” the organizers announced. “We wanted to build the opportunity […]
Romania’s Defense Ministry has signed a contract worth RON 50.4 million with Rheinnmetall Automecanica, a subsidiary of the German defense industry giant Rheinmetall, for the delivery of drone detection systems, Economedia.ro reported. The radar system will be delivered within 18 months at most and will reportedly be...
The former Steaua Roșie cinema in Cluj-Napoca will reopen as Edison-House of Music, a cultural hub dedicated to music and community, the organizers of the Jazz in the Park festival announced. Built in the early 1900s, the Edison building became, after World War II, the Steaua Roșie cinema. After 1989, the venue underwent several changes […]
Unprecedented amounts of precipitation have been recorded in Romania as cyclone Barbara hit the country on October 5-8, according to the authorities. At the same time, Bucharest exceeded the absolute maximum levels of rain for October. “Between October 5–8, 2025, Romania was affected by the Mediterranean cyclone Barbara, which formed over the Ionian Sea and […]
Romania is one of six European countries recently selected to develop a new artificial intelligence and supercomputing center under the EuroHPC – AI Factories program. The project, known as the AI Factory, will be Romania’s first national AI infrastructure, marking a major step toward strengthening its digital and research capabilities. The initiative will be led […]
