It is the largest budget earmarked by the company in the last 17 years, since E.ON’s entry into the Romanian energy market.
The planned investments aim to increase the quality of services in terms of continuity and security, as well as the number of customers connected to the grid to benefit from the supply of natural gas and electricity, in line with data provided by Delgaz Grid representatives on Monday (May 30).
In addition, works amounting to approximately RON122 million (EUR24 million) will be carried out for investments in grid extensions and new connections, a value from which the company will reimburse amounts in instalments to customers, under the legal provisions in force.
“The energy sector is a strategic one and, therefore, through all our investments we want to contribute to the development of a modern, sustainable distribution system, able to successfully follow the path of green transition, focusing on enhancing the satisfaction of the consumers we serve,” said Cristian Secosan, general manager of Delgaz Grid.
Of the overall budget allocated, investments worth RON367 million (EUR73 million) are envisaged for the natural gas segment, higher by 10.6% compared to 2021. The main objective is the refurbishment of natural gas pipelines and connections on a length of about 230 km. At the same time, investments worth RON352 million (EUR70 million) are envisaged for the electricity segment, of which RON79 million (EUR15.6 million) are European Union funds. The company’s priorities include grid rehabilitation and upgrade works, infrastructure automation, smart metering and integration into advanced grid, energy and data flow management systems.
For the period 2022-2024, Delgaz Grid has planned investments of about RON16 million for the installation of another 249 remote-controlled equipment for the automation of medium voltage overhead grids and of about RON25 million for the automation of medium voltage underground grids in urban areas, by modernizing and integrating 91 transformer stations into SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition). In 2022 too, the company plans to install about 58,000 smart meters. For the period 2022-2028, the company plans to install another 381,000 meters, which means that 45% of customers will have smart meters installed by the end of 2028.
In 2021, the company carried out total investments of RON672 million (EUR137 million), of which over RON325 million (EUR66 million) on the natural gas segment, with the distribution system being modernized on a length of 275 km. At the same time, the grid was expanded by 575 km and approximately 48,000 new consumers were connected. Also, in partnership with the local authorities, five new distributions were established. On the electricity segment, the value of investments stood at almost RON347 million (EUR71 million). The electricity grid was upgraded over a length of 437 km and 353 automated equipment was installed. Equipment upgrade works were carried out at 114 transformer stations.
At the same time, over 585 transformer stations were refurbished, of which 237 were integrated into SCADA. Also in 2021, the grid was expanded by 532 km and about 16,000 new consumers were connected. During the same period, more than 12,600 SMART meters were installed.