SOURCES: Big industry players, exempted from the payment of the green certificates

The major companies in the industry will be exempted from the payment of the green certificates, and the support scheme for the renewable energy makers will be adjusted starting this year even, sources from the Ministry of the Economy say. This is the option version which the delegate minister for Energy, Constantin Niţă, will go for, to allow all categories of consumers to have bearable energy expenses, our sources also say.

One week ago, minister Nita said, exclusively for BURSA, that the current support scheme for the production of renewable energy will be changed, and he was considering the following alternatives: the adjustment of the maximum value of the green certificates, the reduction of the number of certificates issued due to the technology becoming cheaper, the exemption of industrial operators from the obligation to pay these certificates, the introduction of a balancing tax. He said that the solution chosen will consist of a mix between these measures.

The mentioned sources said: "If the industry will be exempted from the payment of the certificates, then the burden of these payments will fall on the remaining consumers. In order to avoid this, the change of the number of green certificates issued to the producers of renewable energy will have to be approved this year even. Thus, the population and the SMEs will no longer see new increases in the cost of green certificates".

Ionel Blănculescu, the executive secretary of the Consultative Secretary of the Advisory Council for the Business Environment told us: "If the delegated minister for energy will go with this version, than I can only congratulate him. The decision will be good for the economy and for consumers alike. In October last year I warned about the impact that the subsidies for the green energy will have".

He said that the reduction of the number of certificates should not affect the already operational units which generate renewable energy: "These investments need to go on. Investors have obtained funding from banks based on a specific support scheme. If these investments will be affected, then their business plans will be ruined and this will send a negative signal to all foreign investors who want to come to Romania".

Cristian Pârvan, the secretary of the Association of Romanian Businesspeople (AOAR), has the same opinion: "If we want to keep the industry we still have left, we need to give it a little help. Spain, Italy, Portugal, the UK and Germany have drastically cut the support for the producers of renewable energy to avoid the risks of the industrial producers relocating. Unfortunately, the boom of this type of clean energy in a relatively short period of time has shown that the population in these countries and in Romania can not bear the costs".

He also said that the change of the support scheme should not affect the green investments which are already active. Also, the representative of the AOAR expressed his concern over the risks represented by the wind farms which already have contracts for connecting to the grid: "The authorities need to conduct a careful analysis to avoid being sued by the investors which already have contracts, have loans and contracts for the purchase of equipments and whose business plants will be turned topys-turvy by the reduction of the number of certificates".

Cristian Pârvan also said that unfortunately, Transelectrica has issued many licenses and contracts of connecting to the network, even though all the studies show that our energy system can not take on more than 3,500 MW of wind, solar, hydroelectric and biomass energy.

According to the estimates by the ANRE, on the current support scheme for renewable energy, about 10 million green certificates will be issued this year, with a total value of approximately 600 million Euros. Last year, about 5.5 million green certificates were issued to the makers of clean energy, worth approximately 350 million Euros.

At the end of this month, the ANRE will complete the oversight report which will specify how the support scheme for the makers of renewable energy will be adjusted.