The National Trade Union Bloc (BNS) requests the Parliament to urgently summon the management of the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) to explain the delays in authorizing new electricity production and storage capacities.

“The National Trade Union Bloc requests the Committee for Industries and Services of the Chamber of Deputies and the Committee for Energy, Energy Infrastructure and Mineral Resources of the Romanian Senate to urgently convene the leadership of the National Energy Regulatory Authority (…), to explain the delays in authorizing new electricity production and storage capacities. At a time when Romania is facing increasingly high energy prices and an increased risk for the security of supply, we consider it unacceptable that investments in new production and storage capacities, some of which have already been completed, cannot contribute to supplying the market due to delays in the authorization process,” a press release from the trade union organization states.

According to information from the National Bank of Romania, over 50 economic operators are awaiting the granting of licenses for electricity production, according to Agerpres.

“If these licenses had been issued on time, several hundred MW of production capacity could have entered the market, contributing to increasing the energy supply and reducing the existing pressure on the market. The situation is even more serious as, in parallel, over 200 requests for authorizations to establish new production and storage capacities are awaiting resolution. Their approval could create the prospect of entering the market, at a later stage, of other hundreds of MW of capacity”, argue the unionists.

In the opinion of the NBS, the blocking or unjustified delay of investments that can contribute to increasing Romania’s energy capacity is a situation that must be clarified publicly and institutionally.

“In a period of energy crisis, every available MW counts. From the information transmitted to the NBS, it follows that similar problems also arise in the case of the development of natural gas distribution networks financed from public funds. In certain situations, local authorities and economic operators cannot complete the projects, because during the authorization process they are requested additional documents that are not provided for by the legal framework and applicable regulations. This situation endangers the economic and social development of local communities and, more seriously, non-reimbursable financing may be lost as a result of failure to comply with the deadlines for the execution of the works,” the press release states.

In this context, the National Trade Union Bloc expects ANRE to present to Parliament the complete situation regarding: the number and status of applications for electricity production licenses; the number and status of applications for authorizations to establish new production and storage capacities; the reasons for the delays in resolving these requests; the production and storage capacity that could be available if these procedures were finalized; the status of natural gas distribution network development projects and potential administrative and regulatory bottlenecks; solutions to unblock the current situation.

Representatives of the National Bank of Romania state that Romania cannot afford, at a time when consumers are paying increasingly high prices, energy capacities that could produce and store energy to remain outside the market due to administrative delays.