The energy system consists of the part of production and transportation of electricity, but especially of the part of production and transportation of thermal energy. To them we also add a part of gas extraction and transportation and a part of the production of oil products. I do not touch on the latter in this article, because decarbonization for them is difficult and expensive. (And I don’t want to write about the utopias of mixing H2 with CH4.)

What happened to the Ukrainian electricity industry should give us reason to think! Their system is built around the same rules as the Romanian one. It was shown that there are critical infrastructure points that were attacked by the Russian military in order to cut off the electricity supply. We need to analyze the vulnerabilities of our national system, especially after the latest threats from Moscow. (see here, here and here)

The Ukrainian electric power system was conceived back in Soviet times and was based on the construction of large production capacities (nuclear, gas, coal and hydro), located at great distances from consumers and on power lines capable of transmitting energy. The Romanian electricity system looks roughly the same: a high concentration of production capacity in the south of Romania (especially in Dobruja) with transmission lines to energy-poor areas: Moldova and Transylvania.

Summary of an article written two years ago:

• Energy needs are determined by geographic location: more energy is needed in the north and less in the south due to temperature differences
• Production facilities are located according to resources (we have areas with high hydro potential, with high photovoltaic potential, with high wind potential, near coal or gas resources)
• Consumption needs differ between industrialized and non-industrialized areas
• Lifestyles are different in urban areas and in rural areas, lifestyles are different in the eastern counties than in the west, or in the southern counties than in the northern ones.

It follows that some regions have an energy surplus, while others are energy poor. I repeat the table published two months ago, from which we observe the energy gap between the regions in the south and the regions in the north and the lack of security capabilities in the counties of eastern Romania.

You have to look carefully at the map of the Translectrica transport system to see the critical points of the infrastructure:

I think it is clear that the main critical points are those where the energy produced in Dobrudja is transmitted through the Danube. Then there are those related to neighbors from whom we import when we have a production deficit. And last, but not least, the lines that connect the poor north with the rich south, that is, several lines that cross the Carpathians and lines to Modova.

If I were a Russian strategist, it would be enough to remove a few poles of Transelectric to destroy the entire national energy system. (Don’t bear it, as we suspect that there are factors of influence of the Russian Federation in the Romanian decision-making zone, it is impossible that real Russian strategists do not think about this)

We know that the EU wants to decarbonize energy production at any cost. Our decision makers dream of green horses on renewables (wind and solar) that turn into something they don’t know, i.e. hydrogen, because they don’t even know where to look when we talk about reducing emissions CO2. I have already written several times: thermal energy occupies the largest share of the national primary energy balance (35%), we know that thermal energy is provided by about 50% from firewood, 30% from burning gas at individual power plants and only 20% from SACETs.

Why don’t we tackle this problem to get the most bang for your buck? Is there a problem to eliminate the burning of wood or gas at individual plants?

In Romania, we still have 20 functional SACETs (district heating systems) in several urban agglomerations, covering approximately 18% of households. 20 years ago there were more than 100. If the thermal agent transport systems no longer exist, then certainly the old routes exist and can be reused. READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AND COMMENT AT CONTRIBUTORS.RO