Romania’s energy market is currently dealing with the most difficult conditions in the last decades and the local energy system is functioning close to its limit, according to Georgios Stassis, the general manager of Enel Romania, one of the biggest local electricity distributors and suppliers.

“The still young energy market in Romania is now facing its first exceptional challenge. The prices are at their highest levels in decades, the system is close to its functioning limit, and some suppliers unilaterally cancel contracts to take advantage of these record prices, leaving their customers without the energy supply service despite the signed contracts,” Stassis explained, reports local News.ro.

He added that the free market can offer the best results to customers only if commitments are respected in good faith and that the regulation framework should discourage speculative behavior.

He also said that the wind energy proved useful in Romania in the previous weeks as it compensated for the lower electricity output from other sources, such as hydro power plants. However, wind energy producers find themselves in a desperate situation due to changes in the support scheme for renewable energy, and should be supported by the authorities, Stassis said.

The electricity sold on Romania’s spot market reached record prices of RON 650 (EUR 144) per MWh last week. The price has doubled since the beginning of the year.

Romania, which is an electricity exporter, has been confronted with a crisis situation at the beginning of this year, as the cold weather determined a record domestic consumption while the production was affected by the low flow of the Danube, which reduced the production of Romania’s biggest hydro power plants, Portile de Fier I and Portile de Fier II.

editor@romania-insider.com