Romania’s electricity consumption returned to growth in 2015 after two consecutive years of decline.

The consumption rose by 6% last year reaching 52.5 TWh (Terawatt hour), according to the National Statistics Institute (INS). In 2014 and 2013, the consumption fell by 1.9%, respectively 6%.

The energy consumption in the economy, which has a share of 76% in the total, increased by 6.3% in 2015 to 39.9 TWh.

The household energy use went up by 3.7% compared to 2014 to 12.2 TWh. Romania also used 30% more electricity for public lighting (some 0.6 TWh).

The technological consumption in the electricity transport and distribution networks dropped by 3.7% to 6.3 TWh. This means that the energy losses in networks, including the electricity theft through illegal branching, have dropped.

Romania exported 10.5 TWh of electricity in 2015, 28% more compared to 2014. However, the electricity imports also rose 3.5 times, to 3.77 TWh.

The local electricity production was 65.6 TWh, 3.7% higher than in 2014. Thermal power plants produced 28.2 TWh of electricity, up by 6.2%, wind and solar parks generated about 50% more power (over 9TWh in total), while hydro power plants reduced their output by 12%, to 16.7 TWh.

editor@romania-insider.com