The Bucharest City Hall will get RON 1.3 billion (EUR 268 mln) worth of EU funds to revamp 210 kilometers of its heat distribution network.

The contract's total value is RON 1.6 billion (EUR 330 mln) and covers 22% of Bucharest's heat distribution network.

Bucharest's new mayor Nicusor Dan and EU funds minister Marcel Bolos signed the financing contract on Tuesday, November 10. However, the actual work will start next year, after the Bucharest City Hall will select the contractor, Hotnews.ro reported.

The project will generate three major benefits, namely a better supply of heat and hot water for Bucharest's inhabitants, lower network losses and financial costs for the municipality, and lower air pollution, Nicusor Dan explained.

Currently, the power plants that supply Bucharest burn fossil fuels to produce heat that gets lost in the ground due to the old and corroded pipes, and the City Hall covers the losses, while Bucharest residents who are connected to the centralized heating system are often left without heat and hot water. Thus, heating is one of the city's major problems, and Nicusor Dan promised to fix it.

Besides the contract signed on Tuesday with the EU Funds Ministry, the Bucharest City Hall will also get a EUR 200 million financing through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, minister Marcel Bolos said. Thus, Bucharest will be able to rehabilitate 35% of its heating network.

Meanwhile, prime minister Ludovic Orban assured that the electricity and heat producers in Bucharest would also be modernized to increase the system's efficiency.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Nicusor Dan)