Romania Cuts Support for Green Energy

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Romania has announced severe cuts to its support for renewable energy projects which will take effect from this month.

The government said it has cut the financial subsidies for wind, solar photovoltaic (PV) and small hydropower projects in an effort to reduce the cost to consumers and businesses as well eliminate what it called 'over-compensation' for green energy suppliers. The government offers green certificates for each megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity produced and these have to be purchased by large power companies and heavy power users. Renewable energy producers benefit from selling their certificates for green power and from selling the electricity they produce. The new certificate levels will affect all projects due for completion after January 2014.

Solar PV projects will be hit the hardest, with certificates per MWh falling from the current six to three. Wind energy projects will now get 1.5 certificates per MWh until 2017 compared to 2 certificates. From 2017 onwards this will be reduced further to 0.75 certificates. Small hydropower projects will see a small reduction to 2.7 certificates per MWh, down from three.

The government's actions were based on research from the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), which claimed that green power developers were getting too many certificates for the investments they were making.

Romania decision follows similar reduction in renewable support in country's including Germany, Spain and U.K. where a glut of renewable energy projects drove up the cost of renewable power for government and consumers.

The country has seen a surge in renewable energy projects in recent years. In November 2012 the last turbine at Europe's largest onshore windfarm was connected to the Romanian electricity grid. The Fantanele-Cogealac windfarm boasts 240 wind turbines with a combined generating capacity of 600 MW. It is located in one of Europe's windiest spots in the Romanian province of Dobrudja, 17 kilometres (km) from the Black Sea. Covering a massive area of 12km long and 6km wide, the combined Fantanele-Cogealac windfarm is capable of generating enough electricity for approximately one million households. For additional information, see November 26, 2012, article - Romania Celebrates Europe's Largest Onshore Windfarm .

On the solar front, there has been a great increase in projects. By July last year, Romania had over 203 MW of installed solar PV capacity, with more than 80% of that being installed in the first six months of 2013. In October 2012, the country only had 2 MW of solar PV installed. It was estimated last July that there are around 2,700 MW of additional solar projects in the pipeline, but it remains to be seen what impact the new green certificate cuts will have going forward.

View Plant Profile - 1081732 1081750

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the Industrial Info "Contact Us" page.