The energy regulator ANRE expects another 2,000MW of installed capacities in the renewable sector to be rolled out this year, adding to the existing 4,000MW, said Ciprian Glodeanu, partner at law firm WolfTheiss during the launch of its fifth Renewable Energy Guide.
Glodeanu said he was skeptical about this growth because investors are struggling to get bank finance for renewable projects.
“At this moment (e.n. banks) are refinancing projects, which have been built and have all licenses. I do not think that any bank risks granting financing for the construction (e.n of projects),” Glodeanu told BR.
He added that some projects risk going into administration because producers are starting to sell fewer green certificates.
“If you do not know how to streamline costs and you did not have relatively low construction costs, and you have an expensive financing, then we might have some surprises on the market,” said Glodeanu.
The renewable sector has attracted massive investors in the past four years, mainly in wind, on the back of a generous support scheme that has been changed by the government since last summer. The booming sector has allowed Romania to cover 24 percent of its electricity consumption from renewable capacities, seven years earlier from EU’s 2020 targets.
“I believe that Romania will go through a reindustrialization, consumption will grow and we might wake up realizing in 2019 – 2020 that Romania will be way below the mandatory quota of 24 percent for the production of renewable energy and realize that we do not have any time left to develop them,” said Glodeanu.
The government’s move to suspend some green certificates and cut the incentives for those that were put online starting this year has damaged the confidence of investors in the country, according to commentators. However, they cautioned that investors with ongoing projects are somewhat trapped and will wait longer to recover their investment instead of deciding to exit the country.
The department of energy has recently laid out the principles of the country’s energy strategy. It said that the development of nuclear energy is essential for cutting carbon emissions, while coal remains an important source, although its share in the energy mix should go down.
On renewable capacities the department said that Romania should encourage with caution the development of new projects in the next decade, with focus on biomass. It said that wind and solar capacities developed too fast.
Glodeanu said that Romania has to focus on renewable capacities, because this is one of the main pillars of Europe’s energy policy.
Meanwhile, the government has caved in to demands from big industrial consumers and is set to approve regulations exempting them from acquiring green certificates. Up to 100 companies are set to benefit from this measure.
Representatives of energy intensive sectors say that the increased amount of eco-taxes they have to pay is denting their competitiveness and could force them to cut jobs and production.