Romanian consumers have paid EUR 376 million to renewable producers through green certificates included on their bills in 2013, according to a market report published by energy regulator ANRE, reports Agerpres newswire.
The incentives budget has gone up from EUR 300 million in 2012 and EUR 100 million in 2011. The government has stepped in last summer to postpone the issuance of some green certificates, in a bid to limit the impact of incentives for the electricity bills of households and companies. Projects coming online starting this year are receiving fewer certificates as the ANRE ruled out that producers are recovering their investments too fast.
The renewable energy had accounted last year for 40 percent of the gross electricity consumption in Romania, according to the ANRE. Total renewable energy production last year amounted to around 22.3 TWh, out of which 6.2 TWh were backed by incentives.
The acquisition of green certificates was mandatory for 128 companies, out of which 15 have partially or totally failed to buy them. They include Swiss cement maker Holcim and agribusiness conglomerate Interagro. All these companies that have failed to acquire the green certificates will pay the Environmental Fund Administration EUR 6.5 million in total.
The legal changes in the renewable sector, which has attracted around EUR 6 billion worth of investments, have sent some projects in the red, with experts arguing that some could even go into insolvency. The sale of green certificates generates the biggest part of revenues for a project.
Renewable investors that used bank loans to build their projects have opted for refinancing schemes, while large scale investors, usually utilities backed by parent companies, have managed their risks better although they are losing money on these projects, according to energy experts.