The Romanian government has decided to cut the number of green certificates
hydro, wind and solar energy producers will receive for projects launched after
January 1, local media reported on Wednesday.
"New wind projects which
become operational starting with January 1 will receive 1.5 green certificates
for each megawatt hour instead of two [certificates], solar projects will
receive three [certificates] instead of six and hydro power plants will receive
2.3 certificates instead of three," financial daily quoted the head of Romanian
energy regulator ANRE, Niculae Havrilet, as saying.
Energy distributors
in Romania are required to purchase green certificates for every MWh of power
they sell. The certificates are issued to wind, hydro and solar power producers
who can sell them directly to distributors or trade them on the state-owned
power market, OPCOM. The distributors then pass on the cost of buying the
certificates to their customers.
In June, the Romanian government decided
to temporarily suspend as of July 1 the issuance of some of the green
certificates for which hydro, wind and solar energy producers are eligible in a
bid to reduce the price of electricity for final consumers. The deferred
certificates will be clawed back starting from March 31, 2017, for hydro and
solar power producers and from January 1, 2018, for wind energy
producers.