On Sunday, the CET București Vest combined heat and power plant was safely brought back into operation, successfully reconnecting to the National Energy System following major damage caused by fires. This achievement demonstrates that the company has honored the firm commitment it made earlier this summer to restart the plant by November 15, 2026, announced Electrocentrale București SA (ELCEN).

The safe restart follows six months of intensive effort; ELCEN is now supplying thermal energy up to the facility’s property boundary (the plant’s perimeter fence). The statement notes that for hot water and heating to reach end-users effectively, close coordination remains essential with the intake and distribution operations managed by Termoenergetica—within the network owned by the Municipality of Bucharest—especially given the challenges posed by extensive construction sites across the capital and the general condition of the transmission infrastructure. According to the cited source, “Throughout this period, the ELCEN team chose to address the challenges through concrete actions and sustained work on-site. Restoring the CET București Vest (Bucharest West) power plant to operation—following major damage caused by fires in the spring of this year (April–May 2026)—represented an unprecedented engineering and logistical challenge. Work of such complexity—which, under normal circumstances, would have taken approximately a year and a half—was compressed and managed within a span of just six months. This ensured that all critical interventions required for the safe startup of the plant were completed by the committed deadline of November 15, thereby protecting the residents served by the facility during the cold season and supporting the stability of the National Energy System. Furthermore, we would like to note that the remaining work to fully restore all installations affected by the spring fires continues at a steady pace and will be completed by the end of this year.”

ELCEN points out that the incidents in April–May 2026 involved equipment that was three to five decades old (transformers dating from 1994–1995 and electrical substations from 1972–1975, which had been modernized in the 2000s). This resulted in significant damage to the primary and secondary components of the two 6 kV electrical substations, the 0.4 kV switchboard associated with hot-water boilers 1 and 2, as well as damage to the corresponding power transformers. “It is important to highlight that, throughout the entire period during which the CET București Vest (Bucharest West Combined Heat and Power Plant) was shut down for these major repairs, the required thermal energy production was fully covered by CET Grozăvești. ELCEN thus maintained service continuity, ensuring there was no interruption in the supply of thermal energy. ELCEN’s management extends special thanks to all the specialists, engineers, and workers—both from within the company and from partner firms—who put forth extraordinary effort, working continuously to achieve this major objective,” the statement reads.

Furthermore, long-term modernization projects are ongoing, with ELCEN currently implementing strategic investments totaling approximately five billion lei—funded through the Modernization Fund and other secured sources—which are already well underway.

To ensure that production-side efforts translate directly into greater comfort for citizens, ELCEN emphasizes the importance of strong synergy among all stakeholders in the district heating chain (Production – Transmission/Distribution – Local Administration). An integrated approach to the challenges facing the district heating network—ranging from the volume of thermal energy losses to the modernization of severely worn-out pipelines—remains essential for the predictability of the entire system. At the same time, maintaining operational continuity requires constant attention to the financial balance of the entire chain; in this context, debts accumulated in relation to the district heating operator pose a recurring challenge for ELCEN, particularly regarding the implementation of its investment plans, the statement notes.