“Wind power currently benefits from subsidies of over RON200/MWh and solar power gets RON1,000/MWh, which allows producers to sell energy at low prices. CE Oltenia has not received and will nor receive such incentives. In the next years, the installation of new wind and solar power production facilities may cause major problems in the system. CE Oltenia doesn’t get any subsidies and incurs significant costs from acquiring CO2 emission certificates. This is why CE Oltenia has constantly required the elimination of this discriminatory system that affects competition on the Romanian energy market. In the long run, these disproportionate market mechanism could bankrupt classic energy producers and endanger national energy security,” the energy company said in a statement Monday.
Romania paid renewable energy subsidies of RON1.5 billion last year, RON2.2 billion in 2013, and RON1.5 billion in 2012. In the firts half of this year, renewable energy subsidies reached RON1.03 billion.
Industrial electricity consumption declined 6% in 2012- 2014. CE Oltenia’s market share dropped from 30.4% in 2012 to 21% in 2014, due to unjustified increases in renewable energy quotas, the company said, adding Romania currently has an installed power of around 24,400 MW, of which over 5,000 MW from renewable sources, while consumption averages 7,000 MW.
The renewable energy quota was supposed to reach 38% of total consumption in 2020 but has exceeded 40% in Romania in 2014. CE Oltenia added the green certificate quota reached 27% in 2015, although the law initially stated the quota should reach 10.8% in 2015 and 16.8% in 2020.
CE Oltenia was founded in 2012 following the merger of mining company Societatea Nationala a Lignitului Oltenia and thermal power producers Turceni, Craiova and Rovinari. It operates 13 units with a total capacity of 3,900 megawatts and ensures over 20% of Romania’s electricity output.