Romania is the sixth largest industrial polluter in the European Union, following Germany and Poland, which occupy the first two slots of the top recently published by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The aggregated damage costs for Romania stay between some EUR 4.7 billion and EUR 10.2 billion, in an analysis which includes CO2 emissions. Without the CO2 emissions, the damage costs would be between EUR 3.1 billion and EUR 8.6 billion.

22 polluters from Romania were included in the top, with the Turceni energy complex ranking 6th on the list. Then came the Rovinari complex, 16th on the list, Isalnita power plant – 29th. Most of the Romanian polluters rank above the 100th place in the list of  622 polluting facilities in the EU. The Turceni energy complex is among the biggest in the country, with an installed capacity of 2,310 MW – around 10 percent of Romania's energy consumption. The power plants that are part of this complex were built in the late 70s.

Countries such as Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, where a high number of large facilities are located, contribute the most to the total damage costs. However, when damage costs are weighted trying to show the productivity of national economies, the ordering of countries changes significantly. The emissions from countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic are then relatively more important with regard to the damage costs.

Air pollution from the 10,000 largest polluting facilities in Europe cost citizens between EUR 102 and 169 billion in 2009.

“Our analysis reveals the high cost caused by pollution from power stations and other large industrial plants,” Professor Jacqueline McGlade, EEA Executive Director, said.

The biggest polluter in Europe is in Rogowiec, Poland. One unit from Bulgaria follows, then two from Germany and one from UK.

The energy sector is by far the biggest polluter, with estimated damages between EUR 66 billion and EUR 111 billion – including CO2 emissions. Agriculture is the least polluting, with damages estimated between EUR 1.5 and EUR 4.4 billion.

More about the report here.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com