Romania to invest over 900 mln euro in electricity producer CE Oltenia - energy min

"The energy ministry offers all the support to build further, so that this complex can continue to function tens or even hundreds of years from now. (...) In this sense, almost 900 million euro from the Modernization Fund will be invested in its facilities in Gorj and Dolj counties. We are preparing for the future, for Romania's energy independence," minister Virgil Popescu said in a social media post on Friday, after a meeting with CE Oltenia's representatives.

According to Popescu, in the last three years, the government financed CE Oltenia with approximately 1 billion euro in order to keep it running at optimal capacity.

Virgil Popescu also hinted that the company wouldn't be able to maintain its units for commercial coal exploitation indefinitely. "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."

Earlier this month, CE Oltenia said that it plans to build an 850 MW natural gas-fired power plant in the southern county of Dolj, alongside Romanian aluminium producer Alro.

CE Oltenia is Romanian public energy company active in mining, power generation and local heat supply. The company is the third largest producer of electricity in Romania.

The Modernisation Fund is a dedicated funding programme of the European Union to support 10 lower-income member states to meet 2030 energy targets by helping them to modernise energy systems and improve energy efficiency, according to information posted on the European Commission's website.

($=1.0282 euro)