Romania's Energy Ministry is once again considering merging state energy producers to create power holdings with a balanced production mix, an idea that was floated in the past but abandoned, Hotnews.ro reported.

“The best option is [to merge] the coal-fired power plants with the hydropower plants,” state secretary Doru Visan said on February 19 speaking at ZF Power Summit.

The current market structure, where each company uses a separate technology [coal, hydro, nuclear] is the least profitable and will keep generating problems, he explained, hinting to the massive electricity imports seen during the winter period recently.

He pointed out that a coal-fired capacity of at least 1,600MW should remain in place by either merging the energy company Oltenia (CEO) with hydropower producer Hidroelectrica or regulating CEO as a “capacity generator,” with special legal status that allows the state to extend subsidies to it. This is going to be subject to a public debate, state secretary Visan added.

Experts admit that the market structure, as it is now, can hardly generate genuine competition. Each company operates specific technology and the system of taxing negative externalities (by emission certificates), setting fees for the natural resources used (such as the water in a dam) and extending subsidies (to wind farms and photovoltaic parks) failed to result in a balanced system. 

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Complexul Energetic Oltenia)