A large part of the Mintia power plant’s production capacity could be operational by the end of this year, which would help reduce expensive electricity imports during peak hours, the state secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Cristian-Silviu Bușoi, said on Tuesday.

“We hope that, at the end of this year, a large part of the capacity at Mintia will be operational, because Romania’s big problem is that of peak hours, when we have to import electricity from the spot market, from the region, at very high prices, which take Romania into an area of ​​high prices, especially if we relate them to the purchasing power of Romanians and to GDP per capita. They are not the highest in the European Union, they are not the highest in the world, but, relating to the competitiveness of the industry and the purchasing power of Romanians, they become unusually high for a country that has a balanced energy mix, multiple sources and produces most of its needs. That 10-15% that we need, especially during peak hours, due to the lack of production, high prices and price volatility, because there is a lot on the PZUM (Day-Ahead Market, n.d.), increases our average price and makes us less competitive. And then, Mintia, on the other hand on the one hand, and battery storage capacities should regulate peak consumption and return to more stable and predictable prices”, said Cristian-Silviu Bușoi, according to Agerpres.

According to him, the increase in production from renewable sources is supported by the development of storage capacities, and the expansion of batteries significantly changes the perspective of the energy sector.

“Theoretically, once you have storage capacities, you can rely heavily on renewables. But Romania insists that, at the European level or at least as far as we are concerned, we continue to have energy in the band, and here nuclear energy is very important. That is why we want to develop units 3 and 4 and the small modular reactors, but especially units 3 and 4, because once we have energy in the band, it will be much simpler. For peak hours and to have a balance, we need natural gas and it would be good to have it from domestic production, because here are the highest environmental standards, taxes would be paid here and jobs would be created. That is why Neptun Deep or increasing onshore production would be extremely important”, added the Secretary of State.