The World Bank greatly fired the minds and imaginations of many by spectacularly declaring that the Black Sea has a wind potential of about 75 GW, which we Romanians were quick to announce that “we cannot afford to miss it” (as if it was our first Black Sea miss of the sea!?).

Starting with this seemingly huge jar of honey, Federal Ministry of Economy and Climate Action Germany, “supported” (financed?!) a study is called: Recommendations for Romania’s long-term strategy: Pathways to climate neutrality, made by EPC (Energy Policy Group)

But what is interesting is the fact that the mentioned study indicates from the very beginning:

“…Decarbonization will not be achieved through political commitment alone, it also requires careful, evidence-based planning. Romania has yet to publish its long-term strategy (LTS) on how decarbonisation will be achieved by 2050…”

This important conclusion perfectly describes the “Brussels Sprout” that the Government is stirring up politically and the apparently unbridled actions we see before any action rigorous, evidence-based planning said the EPC.

• A cable with a capacity of 1000 MW of energy (“green”) from Azerbaijan – the destination is Hungary (we do not believe that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary and Ursula v der Leyen came to sign this agreement for nothing. What is the benefit for us?
• We are in a hurry with the law on offshore wind turbines (from the Black Sea)
• We are in a hurry, parallel to the previous one, to provide some more “help” by legislating CfD (Contracts for Difference) for the same wind turbines.
• We are committing to a 5,000 MW DC cable to transport wind power from the Black Sea (where?), and how much do we have left? (if there is something left, is it correct to put “in the plan”?!)

With all of the above, which (to us) is happening, obviously, without any control or planning on the part of our Government, but simply because someone asked us, one natural question arises: “What’s in it for me?” I mean, what do we choose after we “give them all”? No tangible results/commitments were anywhere to be seen

On top of all this, there is also the above study (link to the electricity generation sector) that “calls” us to decarbonize with wind and solar and scares us that without over 17GW of onshore wind (more than what we have now ), 15 GW more offshore and 21 GW more solar PV that we won’t decarbonize by 2050!?

The undersigned’s preliminary conclusion (as well as others in the energy field) is that the EPC study is useful as information and contains some common sense recommendations (e.g. Introduction energy storage of large capacities to support large capacities of ERI – intermittent renewable energy and biomass – the most common resource of controlled renewable energy), but is completely neglected hydro potential, which in Romania is capitalized below 50% economically available. The most serious flaw in this study is that if we are talking about more than 30 GW of intermittent power, then the need for storage should increase to more than 5,000 MWnot to mention the huge cross-border/interconnection capabilities required.

Therefore, we consider the figures and data presented to be unreliable and, moreover, seem impossible from a technical point of view. The major drawback of the study is that it is not based on projected electricity demand (if we talk about the decarbonization of electricity generation), does not take into account the ranked consumption curve, does not take into account available capacity (except for the “obsession” with closing lignite power plants), does not take into account the combined capacity to be installed does not take into account the electrical capacity of existing and especially future cogeneration plants (gas and biomass), etc.

In other words, it does not correspond to the methodology of analysis and comprehensive planning of resources, following the principle energy efficiency 1st, as recommended in the European Commission Regulation 1999/2018 – Energy and Climate Change Management

Let’s explain what we are relying on when we claim above about the unrealistic nature of so many wind and solar power plants in Romania –

Read the whole article and comment on Contribuotrs.ro