While some Romanian TV stations are sensationalizing that the country is at risk of a blackout due to the heatwave or that massive power outages may occur, the Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja, insists that this is not the case.
On Monday, the ministerial committee for the energy sector met in the context of the heatwave.
After the meeting, Burduja emphasized that there is no risk to the balance of the Romanian national energy system or the risk of widespread breakdowns over large areas, but only certain strictly local issues.
“I attended the summer command meeting precisely because we are dealing with an exceptional situation in terms of weather conditions. People with very extensive experience in the energy sector have said that it is atypical, to be delicate, to have temperatures over 40 degrees day after day, and especially in July, this prolonged heatwave period is entirely special,” said the Minister of Energy.
Sebastian Burduja mentioned that discussions took place within the national energy system on two levels.
On one hand, from the perspective of consumption and production, efforts are being made to ensure that everything possible is done to cover from domestic production.
On the other hand, ensuring that the electricity transport and energy networks are in good working order, that transformers are carefully maintained, and intervention teams are in the field to quickly resolve any localized issues, unlike in the cold season when access to networks is much more challenging than these days,” added the minister.
We Cannot Use All the Water from the Hydroelectric Lakes
Through the efforts of the past few days, energy production has increased by approximately 400 megawatts.
“We continue to seek solutions to increase, especially during delicate periods of evening peak consumption, where we have a deficit and accordingly high prices on the market, to increase hydro production. Although it is a dry year, we have a satisfactory filling level, over 80% in the reservoir lakes. About two-thirds of hydro production is from running water, and the flows are reduced, with the Danube flow decreasing,” explained Burduja.
The Minister of Energy stated that a particularly hot August is anticipated, and historically speaking, September is also dry.
“Due to these factors, we must be cautious in using the capacity of the reservoir lakes now, in July, when we still have two and a half months of drought in Romania, and we must prepare for the cold season, where we need to enter with a satisfactory filling percentage,” emphasized Sebastian Burduja.
Burduja also mentioned the importance of interconnections with neighboring countries.
“If we did not have these connections, prices would certainly be much higher, although it has been publicly stated that imports lead to price increases, which is untrue. The fact that we have access to imported energy has put downward pressure on prices, so it is a good thing.
The fact that we are in a situation where we are looking for 50 megawatts here, 20 megawatts there is the consequence of decades in which the state did not invest in the energy sector. In 34 years, it is very easy to calculate, the two units at Cernavodă, started before the Revolution, we have some megawatts in hydroelectric plants, few, and a more significant private investment at Brazi, plus what has been done on regeneration,” explained Sebastian Burduja, pointing out that “the state has halved its production capacity.”