Romania is ready to commission a 330 MW coal-fired power plant after a €100 million renovation

The fifth 330 MW unit of the Rovinari coal-fired power plant at the Oltenia Energy Complex (CEO) is ready for commissioning and connection to the national grid after being renovated as part of a 100 million euro project, the Energy Minister announced Sebastian Burduja announced on October 6th.

As part of the country’s energy sector strategy, the unit remains operational.

“We are probably talking about one of the most complex works on the infrastructure of the energy system in Romania. All necessary work has been carried out to meet environmental requirements.” [according to European standards]. “After the work carried out, the operating costs of this group are expected to be comparable to those of the gas companies,” Minister Burduja said in a post on social media.

According to the restructuring plan, Rovinari units 4 and 5 will not function for long.

The Oltenia energy complex is implementing the revised restructuring plan 2021-2026 with a 2030 perspective. The document was approved by the European Commission in January 2022, after which the CEO was granted state aid for the payment of carbon credits.

According to the plan, energy companies No. 4 and 5 from Rovinari and No. 5 from Turceni will remain CEO even after 2026, all in a state of “capacity reserve”, that is, operational when other resources are not available. Of the ten mining pits, four will remain in operation after 2026 as “capacity reserves”.

After 2031, there will be no mining or coal-based energy production in Romania.

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(Photo source: Facebook/Sebastian Burduja)