Romania prepares for electricity oversupply during Easter period

The conventional electricity producers and the power distribution companies are preparing to accommodate the expected oversupply of electricity by renewable energy units, including the prosumers, during the Easter period, when the consumption drops below that during working days.

Particularly, the prosumers, with an installed capacity estimated at 2,700 MW, “are now a challenge,” according to energy minister Sebastian Burduja, who said their delivery to the power grid could not be projected in advance.

Romania’s power consumption plunged to 3,700 MW on the weekend before Easter, and it might further drop to only 2,500 MW during the prolonged Easter holidays. Typically, Romania’s power consumption is no lower than 4,000 MW during night hours and peaks at 9,000 MW during the evening hours, with typical consumption rates of 7,000-8,000 MW during the day.

The power distribution companies have instructed the railway infrastructure operator CFR on procedures to be employed in order to avoid an automatic shutdown of power transformation units that might result in a temporary lack of electricity, according to Economica.net.

On the production side, the Cernavodă nuclear power plant will be able to operate at reduced reactor power by 20% to 40% for a few hours, Electrocentrale București will completely stop electricity production and will only produce hot water, the Oltenia Energy Complex will be able to operate with only two groups, at a total power of 160 MW, and Hidroelectrica can stop electricity production in all power plants and, to increase consumption by 50 MW, it can also start the pumping system at Lotru.

(Photo source: Nataliia Babinska/Dreamstime.com)