The company says it managed to find buyers for its electricity, though, and also collected 45 million lei (EUR10.1 million) penalties from those that cancelled their contracts.
Nuclearelectrica posted RON930.5 million revenue, up 20% on the year-ago period and net profit of RON213.2 million compared with RON33.7 million in the first half of 2012.
A stake of 10% in the electricity producer that manages the two reactors of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant should be listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange this fall.
“The first half 2013 profit is the result of a number of factors such as a higher amount of power generated and delivered, one-off revenue from penalties paid by customers who cancelled electricity delivery contracts and the appreciation of the domestic currency against the currencies in which foreign loans are denominated,” Nuclearelectrica representatives said.
The two reactors in Cernavoda generated 5.6 TWh of electricity instead of 5.4 TWh in the same time last year, the company officials added.
Although one of the cheapest power producers, Nuclearelectrica has been faced with a significant decline in trading prices since the beginning of the year, especially of the spot prices on the market managed by OPCOM power exchange.
The factors that caused the price decline were the drop in consumption, a very good year for hydropower plants and the high amount of renewable energy covered by the support scheme. This made many customers who preferred to buy power via long-term contracts cancel such contracts and buy from the spot market.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)