Romania looks to wind to fill renewables gap

• 13 years ago (2010-10-10)
• Junior Isles

Europe 1061 Nuclear 639 Renewables 751

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Bucharest has made renewable energy its priority as it tries to meet tough EU carbon emissions goals requiring 20 percent of power generation to come from renewables by 2020.

The Romanian government is happy to focus on wind power as it attracts investors hesitant about partnering the state on more conventional power projects. With coal, gas, nuclear and large hydropower plants largely under state control, wind energy offers a far clearer path for private investors into the potentially lucrative Romanian energy market.

"New (conventional) power generation has not been built and all plans are stalled, so investors enter the market with wind parks because, by law, the system has to absorb renewable energy," said Doina Visa, an energy analyst at the World Bank in Bucharest.
Romania's wind power capacity is expected to jump to 600 MW by the end of 2010, up from 14 MW at the end of last year, according to Romanian Wind Energy Association (RWEA) estimates.

Czech power group CEZ, which quit two conventional energy projects earlier this year, will account for a big chunk of that total in 2010 when it completes half of its €1.1 billion, 600 MW wind park in south-eastern Romania.

Projects amounting to another roughly 300 MW, including some led by Enel and Energias de Portugal, are also expected to come online by the end of 2010.

The RWEA estimates some 3600 MW of wind power could be installed in Romania by 2015, but other estimates are more conservative - taking into account a tricky permitting process and limited power grid capacity.