Sebastian Burduja, former Minister of Energy and current member of Parliament, believes that Romania is undergoing an accelerated energy transformation and will become a major energy supplier at regional and European level within a few years.
“Almost every week a new project comes online. If you add up all the numbers, within a couple of years we will be a major energy powerhouse in the region and in Europe,” Burduja said, at the Energy Strategy Summit 2026, organized by Energynomics.
He pointed to contracts signed at the end of 2024 for nuclear units 3 and 4 at Cernavodă, the elimination of double taxation in the energy storage sector, and thousands of megawatts of storage capacity currently under construction. He also mentioned Romania’s largest battery which was set to be inaugurated in Ialomița county in a matter of days.
The former minister argued that the correct order of priorities in energy policy is energy security first, followed by competitiveness and affordability, and only then sustainability. He noted that this framework is gaining increasing acceptance at EU level, in the context of the Draghi Report and growing acknowledgment that the Green Deal has placed excessive pressure on European economic competitiveness.
On financing, Burduja said Romania has access to 14-15 billion euros from the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the Modernization Fund, stressing that the main challenge is execution, not the availability of financial instruments.
He also called for a firmer Romanian stance in European negotiations, citing the methane regulation as an example under which Romania bears 25% of the costs imposed at EU level, despite accounting for only 3% of the emissions targeted by the mechanism. „It’s not fair and all those go down to the average Romanian who has to pay the bill at the end of the month. So I think we need to be bolder and defend our interests and postilion in Brussels”, Burduja concluded.
Energy Strategy Summit 2026 is organised by Energynomics, with the support of our partners: Elektra Renewable Support, 4P Renewables, ABB, Alive Capital, Atmoce, Baringa, BCR, Big Store, Capalo AI, CBRE Romania, Distribuție Energie Electrică România, Eastship, Distributie Oltenia parte din Evryo, Eaton Electric, Electrica Furnizare, Electroalfa, Electroprecizia, EnergoBit, Enery, Enexus, Eurowind, Evryo, Exim Banca Romaneasca, Hagag Energy, KStar, LONGi, MBK Power Energy, MET Romania Energy, Monsson Trading, Nextpower, OX2, Romgaz, Schraubram, Sigenergy, Softenerg WEBUS 4 ENERGY, Solar Today, Sunotec, TBEA, Think Blu Solution, Transelectrica, Waldevar Energy, WTW Romania. Coffee Break Partner Enerta. Lanyard Partner Monsson Operation. Beverage Partners Aqua Carpatica, Alexandrion. Digital Partner Imsol. Mobility Partner BlackCab.