Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said on Monday at Iron Gates I, that coal-fired power generation cannot be replaced by photovoltaic panels or wind power plants, but by gas production.

According to Burduja, at the moment there are delays in the process of replacing the coal-fired power plants at Isalnita and Turceni, but it is important not to close the coal-fired groups without putting something in place.

„In the restructuring plan for the Oltenia Energy Complex (CEO), the approach was a gradual closure of the coal-fired groups and their transfer to the reserve (some of the groups go into reserve), yet to have the gas groups from Isalnita and Turceni, which mean 850 MW and 478 MW respectively. These gas groups have certain delays, and today we were on a working visit to Isalnita, where there is progress. We want to have the submission of offers, clarifications in the autumn, to hope that there will be no challenges but a contract award by the end of this year, which would allow us in 2027, with support from Transgaz, to have the gas group in Isalnita put into operation. At Turceni there are even longer delays at the moment. So there needs to be a correlation between the closure of coal-fired power plants and the commissioning of gas-fired power plants. Because that’s what strip production means: you can’t replace coal with photovoltaic panels or wind farms. They do not have the same production profile: one is continuous production, while the other is intermittent production.”

Burduja added that according to the deadlines pledged by Romania under its National Recovery and Resilience National Plan (PNRR) for decarbonisation legislation, and also in the restructuring plan from the Oltenia Energy Complex (CEO) and the plan to close the activity in Valea Jiului, 2032 is the last year of operation of CEO.

AGERPRES