News.ro Event – Energy Road – Energy at your home – 7th Edition

News.ro’s traditional premium event, now in its seventh edition, organized in the context of European energy policy and new trends in the US, which aims to follow the path of energy, with milestones related to the decisions of authorities and companies operating on the market, the goal being to better understand the field and outline future solutions.
We want to talk not only about the global context and the implications for Romania, but specifically about ensuring energy independence and transitioning to exporter status, about increasing production and storage capacities, changing the energy mix, about companies’ projects and the problems they face, about consumers and prosumers.

The proposed topics will include current and recurring topics, such as:

• exploitation of Black Sea gas
• investments in energy
• interconnectivity

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

• In the CSAT meeting of March 1, 2022, at which the measures to be taken as a result of the war in Ukraine were analyzed, the main strategic objective was set to achieve Romania’s energy independence, mainly through the development of renewable and civil nuclear energy;
• A new national energy policy is necessary in the recent European context. This must take into account not only the energy production structure, energy efficiency and energy security, but also energy storage and the change in the consumption paradigm;
• In addition, measures must be taken to ensure energy security in the context of EU programmatic lines aimed at decarbonization and reducing greenhouse gas emissions;
• An important objective is to promote investments in the energy sector, especially in the field of clean energy, aiming at the completion of Cernavodă reactors 3 and 4, the refurbishment of unit 1 and the introduction of advanced nuclear technologies (SMR) in the context of the Romania-USA intergovernmental partnership;
• Energy production capacities must be increased and adapted to new European trends in the field, in the sense of their transformation from solid fossil fuel (coal) to liquid fossil fuel (natural gas), as a resource for the transition to a green economy, in accordance with the European Green Deal;
• Investments must also be made in the expansion of the electricity transmission network to increase interconnection capacity with neighboring states and to be able to take over additional electricity production capacity from new or renewable sources;
• In the field of natural gas, investments must be made in the expansion of the transmission and distribution network, with an emphasis on the implementation of intelligent transmission and distribution networks and the exploitation of new internal and external sources of natural gas;

CONTEXT:

• The election of Donald Trump as US president has also shaken up the global energy sector, with the US’s new withdrawal from climate agreements, the call to “Drill baby, drill!” and the tariff war marking European discussions on the Green Deal and how the energy transition will be made;
• The European Union is now discussing a brake on some of its projects to fight climate change in order to provide a breath of fresh air to companies, subject to fierce competition from the United States and China. Under pressure from industrialists, Paris and Berlin, to the great discontent of NGOs, the European Commission (EC) has proposed a modification of several very ambitious texts, some adopted last year.
• EC President Ursula von der Leyen has placed the fight against climate change at the heart of her first mandate, but, faced with the risk of a trade war with Donald Trump’s US, which is imposing EU customs duties, she is shifting her focus to businesses. “Our climate and social objectives remain unchanged”, Ursula von der Leyen assured. In addition, she presented a strategy to support the decarbonization of European industry – called the “Clean Industry Pact”.
• Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja has repositioned himself in the new international context, criticizing Europe’s “greening” policies, which “were not well-thought-out public policies, but an ideology followed blindly, on the model of shock therapy”. This must stop and the economy must be rebuilt on solid, competitive and innovative foundations, argues Burduja, who proposed, on behalf of Romania, the transition from the Green Deal to the Smart Deal, more precisely a Green Deal Smart.
• He claims that Romania has exceeded its milestones regarding new green energy production capacities and assured that our country will meet all the targets for switching from coal to gas and then to clean nuclear energy, within a reasonable timeframe.
• Burduja states that Romania is determined to switch to clean energy, but without destroying the industry or losing tens of thousands of jobs, and the energy transition can be smart and fair, protecting Romanians and our country’s economy. Romania has asked the EU to extend the deadlines for closing coal-based capacities.
• Sebastian Burduja wants Romania’s energy to be “safe, cheap and clean – in that order”.
• Energy production capacities must be increased and adapted to new European trends in the field, in the sense of transforming them from solid fossil fuel (coal) to liquid fossil fuel (natural gas), as a transitional resource.
• Investments must also be made in expanding the electricity transmission network to increase interconnection capacity with neighboring states and to be able to take over additional electricity production capacity from new or renewable sources. Investments in storage are also necessary.
• In the field of natural gas, investments must be made in expanding the transmission and distribution network, with an emphasis on implementing smart transmission and distribution networks and capitalizing on new domestic and foreign sources of natural gas.
• An important objective is to promote investments in the field of clean energy aimed at completing the Cernavoda reactors 3 and 4, the retrofitting of unit 1 and the introduction of advanced nuclear technologies (SMR) in the context of the Romania-USA intergovernmental partnership.
• A new national energy policy – the Energy Strategy of Romania 2025-2035, with a perspective of 2050 – was launched and approved by the Government after many years. This takes into account not only the structure of energy production, energy efficiency and energy security, but also energy storage and the change in the consumption paradigm.
• The energy sector is complex, with powerful companies, both state and private, which has complicated the development of a long-term vision. Companies in the sector have made investments, but they develop according to their own strategies and are often affected by political and legislative changes, but also by crises, with administrative decisions that have affected the market.
• In addition, decisions taken at the European Union level raise new challenges for Romania in its objective of ensuring its energy security, thus paying the price for the delay in reforms and investments.
• Therefore, the path of energy must be reanalyzed in accordance with the new domestic and international context, and this event aims to update information, stimulate debates, and bring energy to your home, primarily from an informational point of view.

DISCUSSION TOPICS

• Romania’s New Energy Strategy 2025-2035, with a 2050 perspective. The Integrated National Energy and Climate Change Plan – the established objectives. Are new amendments to the Energy Law necessary?
• Development strategies of energy companies – review of strategies and new projects in the new domestic and international context
• Increasing domestic energy production and storage capacity. What are the plans of the state and companies? Investments.
• Natural gas production – Exploration and exploitation of gas from the Black Sea. Neptun Deep project, Caragele field, etc.
• Electricity production – Completion of works and commissioning of CTE Iernut, other projects.
• Investments in energy infrastructure. Interconnectivity. Gas transportation and integration with the regional market. New gas routes.
• Liberalization vs. Regulation – What will the market be like after exiting the regulated model? Settlement of debts to suppliers.
• REPowerEU – What are the state and companies doing and how do we benefit from EU funds?
• Romania’s reindustrialization and re-engineering – the need for new resources and innovation.
• Energy transition. Nuclear energy included in the green transition – Completion of Cernavoda reactors 3 and 4, the re-engineering of unit 1 and the introduction of advanced nuclear technologies in the context of the Romania-USA intergovernmental agreement – small modular nuclear reactors SMR.
• Investments, acquisitions, development – completed and prospective projects. The need for rapid investments in the energy field.
• Wind, solar energy, alternatives to conventional sources – the off-shore wind law, other essential changes and new projects. What problems need to be overcome?

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