BETWEEN 2010 and 2023, Energy cogeneration to receive 17 billion lei in state aid

The European Commission has given the go-ahead for the program of the Romanian government intended to promote high efficiency energy cogeneration. The program, which was greenlit by the Competition Council and notified to the European Commission, will be implemented by the Romanian energy market regulator (ANRE). The press release received by our editors states the project will receive a state aid of 17,232,804,784 lei for the 2010 - 2023 period. It is estimated a maximum of 500 companies will benefit from this program.

Bogdan Chiriţoiu, chairman of the Romanian Competition Council, said: "The approval of this scheme represents a major step that Romania has taken on the road towards integrating environmental policies in elaborating and applying a long-term strategy for durable development in the long run. By implementing this scheme we are trying to promote the systems for producing electricity and heat using highly efficient cogeneration, allowing lower consumption of raw materials and energy in the production process, as well as reducing emissions".

Eligible for the program are energy providers which generate heat and electricity using cogeneration, which meet the efficiency criteria, achieve lower emissions and fuel consumption, but have high production costs. The financial aid is intended to cover the difference between the cost of producing energy using high efficiency cogeneration and its selling price. Eligible beneficiaries will be paid a monthly "bonus" for each MWh generated using high efficiency cogeneration, delivered to the electric grid of the National Energy System and sold on the day-ahead market by way of regulated contracts.