THE "BURSA" CONFERENCE - "ENERGY - PLUGGED IN" The energy market, between the drop in consumption, between the drop in consumption and the need for increasing efficiency

The Romanian energy market has been struggling for some time now, with the dramatic drop in the gas and electricity consumption and the need to improve the efficiency of production. Starting last year, the market has stepped on the path towards the completion of the liberalization process, which means that, once it ends, the consumers will pay prices drawn up according to the evolution of supply and demand.

The energy sector has reached a turning point in its evolution and it is trying to find on its own the balance between the wishes of the consumers affected by liberalization and the need to improve the competitiveness of the energy generation activities.

Whereas in the first half of the year the energy producers have fought one another, consumers have turned against the market players and everybody has blamed the major growth of renewable energy.

The BURSA conference "Energy - plugged in: the Liberalization of the energy market - effects on the economy" yesterday succeeded in bringing together 150 participants, which began a constructive debate on the problems of the market.

Major market players, present at the conference, have assessed and debated several scenarios which would allow energy to once again become the "lifeblood of the economy" and help the industry be competitive.

The participants in the press conference have concluded that there is a need to define the production capabilities which are generating a surplus and there is a need to find a balanced method of integrating the new renewable energy units into the system in order to ensure a balanced development over the long term.

The energy production needs to become more efficient in order to successfully ensure more competitive energy prices for the industry. Some thermoelectric units are too old for retooling and the plants that can be replaced with new, modern, high-yield units need to be found.

On the natural gas market, the liberalization is wreaking havoc in the industry, the major consumers present at the conference told us. However, they emphasized the fact that it is not the liberalization process they have a problem with, but the manner in which the deregulation is implemented.

Energy still remains one of the hottest sectors in Romania, in which the market players are now trying to find their own path, with or without the help of the authorities.