Romania has a wide range of renewable energy resources: hydro-energy (small hidro which is < 10 MW capacity), biomass, solar energy, wind energy and geothermal energy sources. However, part of them are currently starting to be exploited, except from hydro-energy which is converted into power both in small and large hydropower plants for more than hundred years.

Wind

Since wind energy is traditionally established in Romania and some wind power plants have been recently built, the wind energy option started beying interesting not only regarding to the production clean energy, but it can also contribute to the development of a “new industrial branch” in Romania.

Advantages: small scale; decentralised, supplementry power in windy areas; alternative for individual homeowner and small villages (connected to or independent of the electricity distribution or transmission network) ;

Disadvantages: Highly variable source; relatively low efficiency (30%); more power than needed is produced when the wind blows; feeding into the power grid or efficient energy storage and back up capacity is thus required;

Romania has adopted the “green certificates” mechanism for encouraging production of electrical energy from renewable energy sources and, currently, there is a functioning market on which “green certificates” are purchased and sold (about 300 millions certificates available for sale). The following compulsory quotas have been established, as % of annual gross consumption of energy: 2.2% for year 2006, 3.74% for 2007, 5.26% for 2008, 6.78% for 2009 and 8.4% starting with year 2010. Romania has adopted the “green certificates” mechanism for encouraging production of electricity from renewable energy sources and, currently, there is a functioning market on which “green certificates” are purchased and sold. Romania will promote the use of renewable energy sources by implementing mechanisms for supporting production of energy using these sources (including cogeneration - production of thermal energy and hot water for household consumption), by continuously developing the green certificates market and by attracting private capital investment in this sector.

It has been estimated that the needed investments for usage of renewable energy sources in years 2006-2009 are approximately 500 million EUR

Source: Agerpres.

Source: www.investromania.be

Romania's wind power projects threefold the capacity of a nuclear reactor

The capacity of wind Project applications for the connection to the national transmission power grid addressed to TRANSELECTRICA – the Romanian Transmission System Operator can not be more than threefold the capacity of a Cernavoda nuclear reactor, reports financiarul.com. However, there are much more applications and many of them will just stay on paper. The most advanced investment is that of CEZ (Czech Republic),the biggest onshore wind farm in Europe, due for completion this year. Grid connection applications by companies that plan to invest in wind power generation total 22,800 MW, eight times the capacity TRANSELECTRICA can install. "This significant demand for installed wind power capacity exceeds by far the current adjustment possibilities of the national electricity system. The maximum wind power capacity that can be installed is 2,660 MW," reads a TRANSELECTRICA document posted on the website of the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE). According to Dan Preotescu, TRANSELECTRICA network planning director, grid connection contracts signed so far amount to 1,500 MW and 1,160 MW are still available. "We accept applications by the criterion first-come, first served," says Preotescu. . The 600 MW of CEZ wind farm is sited in Dobrogea, at Fantanele and Cogealac, and its capacity is almost equal to that of a nuclear reactor of the Cernavoda plant, which can produce up to 700 MW. The Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm is the largest onshore wind farm in Romania. The wind farm, which is being built for the CEZ Group, will produce electricity from 240 General Electric 2.5xl wind turbines. It will have a total nameplate capacity of 600 MW of electricity, providing 1,500,000 MWh per year, enough to serve the average needs of 650,000 homes. The wind farm occupies 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) of open field, 600 hectares (1,500 acres) in Fântânele and 500 hectares (1,200 acres) in Cogealac communes. This will also be Europe 's largest onshore wind farm and the total investment amounts to 1.1 billion euros. "It's still unclear what Romania’s wind power capacity will be at the end of the year.

Apart from CEZ, other companies also announced projects due for completion, yet of smaller capacity," said Preotescu. "The other projects totaling 18,900 MW have the studies for the connection to the public network finalized and a considerable part thereof have the documentation submitted for the technical connection approval," shows the TRANSELECTRICA release. Dan Preotescu says “the biggest issue for investors in renewable energy is not the connection to the power system, but the market, that is where to sell the electricity”. In late 2008, Romania’s total capacity of wind turbines was of just 10 MW, below that of neighboring countries. The new wind turbines installed by CEZ will sap the costly technology of local producers in the country, especially power stations. "This investment might hasten the closure of cost-intensive plants like Doicesti, Borzesti, Galati and Braila. On average, a wind farm effectively operates at 30% of the installed capacity. But the aforementioned plants use even less of their capacity. They are kept alive artificially," says energy analyst Jean Constantinescu. The benefits of wind farms are connected to the green certificates award system for the produced energy according to which for 1 MWh of electricity fed into the power grid, the producer gets the electricity price and two green certificates up to 2017 and one green certificate starting 2018, allowing him to charge more advantageous fees. In addition, clean electricity is the first fed into the transport networks, which gives theproducer an edge over coal or gas fired power plants. The downside is that wind farm electricity supplies are not continuous, like those of a thermal power plant, because of the variable direction and intensity of the wind. Dobrogea is the main target for investors in wind energy facilities. Deputy Gheorghe Dragomir, member of the Budget-finance Committee, estimated that total investments in such farms amount to four billion euros. The main investors in the sector are the Czech CEZ, Italy’s Enel, Iberdrola, Energia de Portugal.

Source: Agerpres.

Source: www.investromania.be

Freddy Jacobs

President Camera Imobiliara Belgia Romania

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