EnergyMin: Romania put into operation 10 times more electricity production capacity in 2023 vs. 2022

Last year Romania put into operation 10 times more electricity production capacity than in 2022, and the increase is estimated to be even higher at the end of 2024, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said.Thus, in 2023, new power plants commissioned included: 496 MW solar, 72 MW wind and 56 MW hydro. The total is 624 MW installed capacity, new production capacities now available to the national grid. Compared to 2022, the total figure is almost 10 times higher (44 MW hydro and 25 MW solar were commissioned then).Also, if at the end of 2022 there were only 40,171 prosumers, with a cumulative installed capacity of 417 MW, at the end of 2023 their number exceeded 100,000, with an installed capacity that most likely exceeded 1,500 MW, more than the installed capacity of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, the press release mentions."The fact that in 2023 the new capacities commissioned were almost 10 times higher than in the previous year shows that Romania is increasingly attractive for investors in the energy sector, especially in the green energy segment. We expect that by the end of 2024 the growth will be even higher, given that we have managed to complete the financing of the projects of investment 1 - PNRR, which total almost 1,700 MW. I expect a large part of these investments to be completed by the end of the year, based on the commitment of the beneficiaries. Add to this the investment in the new gas-fired power plant at Iernut, a project that has been blocked for years, with a real chance of coming on stream in December 2024, which will add 430 MW of installed capacity to the national energy grid. Plus a number of private investments, which did not require government support, so the balance sheet for this year will be even better," stressed the energy minister.He also pointed out that if in 2023 Romania was a net exporter of electricity, after many years of relying more on imports, with these new investments it is even better positioned to reach its potential as a regional leader and energy hub for the entire region.The source also points out that the Ministry of Energy is nearing completion of the procedures for the implementation of Contracts for Difference (CfD), which will support, through two successive auctions in 2024 and 2025, investments in solar and wind energy production with a total installed capacity of 5,000 MW.