Bucharest’s Elcen seeks to install PV panels on its thermal power plants

Electrocentrale Bucharest has put up a tender on SICAP for a contract worth RON 55,000 for the execution of a feasibility study aimed at installing photovoltaic panels on Bucharest’s Progresu, Grozăvești, and București Vest thermal power plants.

The study is to be completed within 45 days after signing the contract with the winning bidder. Bids will be opened on September 20, and their selection will be based on price and consultant experience, Economedia.ro reported.

The installation of photovoltaic panels on thermal power plants is part of Elcen's strategy to diversify its business. The company is incentivized to make the investment by the subsidy received by renewable energy producers through the green certificates system, as well as the law that mandates the automatic integration of any produced quantity into the National Energy System.

Elcen, owned by the state through the Ministry of Energy, is the largest electricity and heating supplier in the country and the sole supplier of heating for the centralized system in Bucharest. It is state-controlled through the Ministry of Energy.

Through the Autonomous Administration of Thermal Energy Distribution Bucharest (RADET), now Termoenergetica, the main supplier of hot water and centralized heating, Elcen provides energy to approximately 550,000 apartments in the capital.

Elcen was under insolvency for three years, emerging from the situation in February of this year. The company once again faces cash flow issues due to Termoenergetica, the former RADET, owing it RON 1 billion. In these circumstances, the former struggles to secure raw materials, namely gas from Romgaz, according to Economedia.ro.

For years, Elcen has been receiving gas only after an upfront payment. With no funds available, the company might be unable to secure heating for Bucharest residents during the winter of 2023-2024, an issue recently noted by the minister of energy, Sebastian Burduja. The minister argued that Termoenergetica simply needs to pay its debt to Elcen for gas to be purchased by October 1. He also said that the inability to purchase gas would lead not just to insolvency for Elcen, but directly to bankruptcy.

Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan said that the debt will be paid off and that there is no risk that Bucharest residents will be without hot water and heating next winter. According to the mayor, such a risk existed last year before the government allowed the local administration to secure a RON 500 mln credit through an emergency ordinance.