In a meeting with representatives of the main power generation companies in the country, Romanian prime minister Nicolae Ciuca and minister of energy Virgil Popescu reviewed the options for increasing the installed generation capacity in the short term, until next year. Thus, the coal and power group CE Oltenia will increase the operating capacity by 300 MW, and Romgaz will complete the gas-fired power plant at Iernut (210 MW) that was supposed to be ready years ago, Hotnews.ro reported. Separately, the investments in the hydropower generation units will result in 200 MW supplementary generation capacities, the Government’s officials estimate without explaining whether this would be achieved by upgrading the existing hydropower plants or by commissioning new ones. At the same time, the Government assures that it will speed up the investment plans financed under the Modernization Fund for the development of energy production capacities, including from renewable sources. Thus, since the beginning of this year, CE Oltenia has submitted projects worth EUR 1.4 bln, of which EUR 895 mln is to be financed under the Modernization Fund. Another EUR 400 mln will be allocated to projects submitted by power transport company Transelectrica. This month, calls for energy projects worth EUR 960 mln will be launched, which will generate an additional 260 MW of installed generation capacity. From the Modernization Fund, another EUR 2.8 bln will be made available this autumn for the development of energy production capacities. The Modernisation Fund is a dedicated funding programme to support 10 lower-income EU Member States in their transition to climate neutrality by helping to modernise their energy systems and improve energy efficiency. The beneficiary Member States are Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Romania was formally designated the 43rd country to join the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) on Friday, January 10. According to the Romanian ambassador to Washington, Andrei Muraru, Romanian citizens will be able to travel to the US without the need for a visa starting March 31, 2025. "Romania becomes the first country in the […]
Cluj-Napoca, the city in Romania with some of the highest rents and a fast-growing IT industry, is closer to banning smoking in playgrounds and parks after mayor Emil Boc expressed his support for the measure. The mayor cited the prioritization of public health as the reason behind such a ban. He mentioned that he has […]
Romania's Sibiu County Emergency Clinical Hospital will receive a robotic system to prepare cytostatic drugs needed by cancer patients, along with other equipment, after the County Council obtained funds from the European Regional Development Fund. With an estimated value of EUR 1 million, the "Robotic Composition System for Sterile Preparations of Cytostatic Drugs" is among […]
Romania’s government adopted in its January 10 meeting a decision granting an extra day off to public sector employees at the beginning of May. Thus, Friday, May 2, will be an official day off for public sector workers, linking the legal holiday of May 1 (Labor Day) with the weekend (May 3-4). This...
The Ministry of Environment announced that 2024 was the hottest year in the history of Romania's meteorological records. Red alerts for heat waves began in June of 2024, with the longest consecutive periods of persistent and intense heat waves, six consecutive days, between July 13-18 and August 15-20. "The year 2024 is the hottest year...
Supporters of former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu gathered outside the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, which houses the Constitutional Court, on January 10, demanding a rerun of the second round of the presidential elections. The protest, dubbed "The Great Judicial Union," was initiated by Georgescu, who called on his supporters to challenge the election annulment, as […]
