Deloitte Romania expert: EU will finance only high-tech gas projects

Investors planning to develop projects in the energy sector based on natural gas resources will have to meet tight requirements such as low CO2 emission rates, the closure of coal-based power plans as a precondition, or reducing the CO2 emissions at an existing gas-fired plant.

The investors can achieve this by building high-tech power plants and using the hydrogen (besides natural gas) in the existing plants subject to refurbishment, explained Deloitte Romania's energy expert Sorin Elisei at a conference, Economica.net reported.

The three European financing programs, namely the Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Modernisation Plan, and the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027, may bring Romania EUR 15 bln for investments in the energy sector.

Romania and other countries in the region have argued for maintaining natural gas as a transition fuel in the European Union's policies hence financial instruments.

In principle, the target was achieved, but the requirements to be met by investors are high: the CO2 emissions in the new gas-fired plants should not exceed 250g per kWh - compared to 325-340g currently.

Under the Recovery Plan, the opening of new power plants should be preceded by the closing of coal-fired plants with the same capacity. The Modernisation Fund finances refurbishing existing plants, but the investor must stick with the CO2 reduction schedule promised.

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