RO micro hydropower producers say new water royalty will bankrupt them

The new water fee of RON 33 per MWh for all producers is "uncompetitive and discriminatory," claim the representatives of the Organization of Renewable Energy Producers in Romania (PATRES) quoted by Adevarul.

They ask the Parliament not to bury micro-hydro energy producers.

The Romanian lawmakers are debating a draft bill that would replace the existing water tax paid per cubic meter of water used by hydropower plants (RON 22 per MWh on average) with a new fee calculated per MWh produced.

The first to protest the move, which aims to bring more money to the state, was Fondul Proprietatea - a minority shareholder of the country's biggest hydropower producer Hidroelectrica.

According to PATRES, the amount and the mechanism for calculating the tax for turbine water "must take into account the technical characteristics of the power plants, not the functioning budget of the Romanian Waters Administration [the state body that charges the water fees from hydropower plants]".

The micro-hydro energy producers, who estimate their investments at approximately EUR 1.2 billion, consider unacceptable the tax of RON 33 per MWh, already approved in the Parliament's Agriculture Committee.

The new tax would account for 17% of the energy price, PATRES claims. Including other taxes charged by the Romanian Water Administration, such as the rent for the minor riverbed, the insured fall, all the fees paid by small hydropower plants represent 35-40% of their turnover, PATRES claims.

(Photo: Octav Ganea/ Inquam Photos)