Electrica Group made investments in distribution infrastructure in the total amount of 727 million lei in 2017 and plans record 900 million lei investments for 2018 through its distribution companies SDEE Muntenia Nord, SDEE Transilvania Nord and SDEE Transilvania Sud.
In a press release, Electrica Group announces that in the four years since the 2014 privatization, it has invested 2.1 billion lei in the distribution infrastructure. “The modernization of the distribution networks continues to be the priority of the Electrica Group, so for this year, we have proposed record investment worth 900 million lei, probably the most ambitious plan in the energy sector. Our aim is to increase the operational efficiency and the quality of the offered services, so that the average unplanned interruption time per user – SAIDI – will reach the level in the Central European countries”, stated Cătălin Stancu, General Manager Electrica.
The investments of the Electrica Group in infrastructure have increased steadily from year to year, thus, in 2017, the total value was 727 million lei – 235 million lei SDEE Transilvania Sud, 238 million lei SDEE Muntenia Nord and 254 million lei SDEE Transilvania Nord. The total amount of investments made in 2017 at the level of the Electrica Group is over 30% higher than in 2016 and more than double compared to 2014.
Thus, investments in distribution networks have led to a significant improvement in operational efficiency and quality of the distribution service, leading to a significant reduction in the average unplanned disruption time for consumers (unplanned SAIDI) in 2016 compared to 2014, by 10% for SDEE Muntenia Nord, by 30% for SDEE Transilvania Sud and by 19% for SDEE Transilvania Nord. In 2016, the last year for which there are official statistics on performance indicators, the best result was obtained by SDEE Muntenia Nord (240 min per year), which was 17% lower than the national average (290 min per year).
In 2018, the structure of the investment plan will focus, once again, on the rehabilitation and modernization of distribution networks to improve service quality (40%), on energy efficiency improvement and loss reduction (40%), as well as on operational efficiency gains. At the same time, at the level of the Group, important investments will be made in the modernization of IT infrastructure and information technology systems, taking into account both the legal requirements on data protection and the positive effect on the quality of the services provided.
Distribution companies within the Electrica Group cover over 40% of Romania’s territory, with an operating area of approximately 100,000 square kilometers. The three distribution companies within the Electrica Group have over 3.6 million consumers in 18 counties.