Romania resumes talks for 600 MW coal-fired power unit

Representatives of Romania’s Ministry of Energy and state-owned coal and power producer Complexul Energetic Oltenia (CEO) resumed talks with China’s Huandian Engineering for the project of a 600 MW coal-fired power unit to be located at Rovinari, in South-Western Romania. The investment in the state-of-the-art unit is estimated at EUR 1 billion and will be carried under a public-private partnership, state secretary Andrei Maioreanu explained. The project will secure the workplaces of some 4,000 miners as CEO agrees to deliver 5 million tonnes of coal per year to the new unit. The issue returns on the Government’s agenda at a moment when the country needs new conventional power energy sources to replace the outdated ones that are no longer able to operate due to lack of environmental permits. Romania’s massive electricity imports during the cold winter days in January pushed up the spot electricity prices to new records demonstrating the need for new, modern capacities. The 600 MW project at Rovinari is, besides the completion of two new nuclear reactors at Cernavoda nuke and a pumped hydropower plant at Tarnita Lapustesti, among the key projects included in the country's energy strategy, which the Government inked last year. Independent analysts argued against all these three projects questioning their economic profitability and investment fund Fondul Proprietatea, which is a minority shareholder in the state's energy companies, took steps to block these plans. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Facebook / Complexul Energetic Oltenia)