​The 10 ongoing investment projects at Hidroelectrica have been declared by CSAT to be of national interest so that, due to certain exemptions from environmental and financial legislation, they can be quickly implemented. At stake: energy independence from Russia through access to €1.4 billion allocated to Romania through the REPowerEU program.

The government wants to pass these measures through an emergency decree on Wednesday.

• SEE DRAFT GEO AND KEYNOTE HERE

How does the Government justify the urgency of adopting these measures

Among the reasons cited by the Government are the strategic nature of investment projects for the implementation of hydropower, wind and photovoltaic installations and the fact that European funding through the REPower EU action plan requires a short period of time for evaluation, as it is necessary to ensure the possibility of implementation by 2026.

Other arguments:

• “Since the central authority on defense and national security – the Supreme Council of Defense of the country has prioritized the current energy crisis of SPEEH SA investment projects at various stages of implementation, by increasing Romania’s energy sustainability,
• Taking into account the need to streamline the environmental impact assessment process, which is carried out at the level of territorial nature protection bodies, in the sense of creating legal prerequisites for the assessment of the Ministry of Nature, Water and Forestry through its own specialized structures,
• Taking into account the fact that the technical and economic indicators for some investment projects were approved before 1990 by normative acts, which are characteristic of the normative and legal acts that were in force at the time of consideration, in connection with this, it is necessary to update the technical and economic indicators and the budget.”

Which 10 investment projects were selected by CSAT

Below are the 10 projects declared by CSAT to be of national interest:

• 1. AHE of the Jiu River on the Lijeni – Bumbeshti sector
• 2. AHE gorges of the Olt River on the Kornet – Avrig sector
• 3. AHE Pascani on the Siret River
• 4. AHE Rastolnit
• 5. AHE Surduk Siriu
• 6. AHE of the Siret River in the Kosmesta – Movileni section
• 7. Hydrotechnical and energy complex Cerna Motru Tismana, Stage a – II
• 8. AHE of the Olt River on the Izbicheny – Danube section. CHE Islaz
• 9. AHE Cerna Belareca
• 10. Using the potential of solar energy in the Sadova-Debulen district, Dolj – UAT Sadova

What exemptions will these investments receive

The resolution stipulates that “these investment goals are considered exceptional situations within the meaning of the provisions of Art. 5 para. (2) from Law No. 292/2018 on the assessment of the impact of certain public and private projects on the environment and are projects of national interest/importance/national security, as well as Art. 36 of Law No. 46/2008 – Forest Code (…), which allows the withdrawal of land from agricultural circulation and the final withdrawal of land from the forest fund

national”.

Another exception is that the technical and economic indicators related to the investment projects are updated and re-approved by Hidroelectrica and not by the Government, regardless of the initial method of approval of the respective investment projects.

Consequences of the completion of these investments: Romania’s energy independence

“Thanks to the completion and development of hydropower projects, the annual production in Romania is almost increasing 2 TWh/year of renewable green energyleading to the achievement of the current desired goal of energy independence while respecting and protecting the environment.”, this is shown in the explanatory note.

In the context of the energy crisis caused at the level of the European Union by the Russian-Ukrainian war, the European Commission launched the REPowerEU action plan in May 2022 with the aim of ensuring Europe’s independence from fossil fuel imports from Russia well before the 2030 horizon.

Romania can get access to 1.4 billion euros – non-returnable EU funds

The Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Investments and European Projects announced on November 28 that they had started the process of developing the REPowerEU section.

According to the current proposal to amend Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and the Council on the establishment of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, Romania will receive irreversible financial support of around 1.4 billion euros in order to increase its energy independence.

According to the Commission, the proposed regulation will be adopted before the end of the year, after which member states will present their proposals for measures. The reforms and investments that will be included in the new chapter will be completed by 2026.