Romania delays closure of 660MW coal-fired plants to Oct '23

Lignite-based energy groups Rovinari 3 and Turceni 7, each with an installed capacity of 330 MW, as well as their related mining operations will continue to function for a further nine months, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

The decision was taken in line with a law which stipulates that in an energy crisis, the government can postpone closure or restart coal-based energy capacities and related mining operations, while respecting the assumed deadline for decarbonisation of the national energy sector.

The two coal-fired plants are operated by public energy company Complexul Energetic Oltenia (CE Oltenia), the third largest producer of electricity in Romania.

In October, Romania's energy minister Virgil Popescu said that the government plans to allocate over 900 million euro ($957 million) from the EU's Modernisation Fund to refurbish CE Oltenia. "We will make sure the units work as long as necessary, but at the same time we will transition to natural gas and start to produce energy from renewable sources," he said

In June, the energy ministry said that the government has decided to gradually close down coal-fired power plants as well as coal mines by 2032 in a move to decarbonise the country's energy sector.

($=0.9401 euro)