The project of the gas network extension authorities is similar to the local legend of Master Manole and we must be very careful not to do more harm, starting from a good intention, said Eric Stab, general manager of Engie Romania, at the online conference FOREN 2020.
“I always hear that Romania is not sufficiently gasified, compared to other countries, that much more needs to happen from this point of view. It is true, but we must not forget from where we actually came,” said Stab, quoted by Agerpres.
He recalled that Engie connects about 50,000 to 60,000 new consumers a year.
“I don’t think there is a country in the EU that has such an increase in network connections and it is a major investment effort for operators. There is a legitimate desire to move forward. There is a potential to move forward, but the question is how do we get there,” Stab continued.
The Engie official reminded that some of the legislative efforts made in this regard, such as Law 155/2020 (amending Law 123/2012) could be counterproductive and could lead to the opposite of the expected effect, which is the sustainable development of the gas network.
“The situation resembles the local legend of Master Manole, which everyone knows, even foreigners like me. We know what happened to Master Manole and his wife, when he tried to build the Curtea de Argeş monastery and finished by sacrificing himself, his wife and his crew. We have to be very careful in the future, because we have good intentions to build – building a monastery is a good intention, building a gas network is a good intention, but we must not do it in a a way that leads to self-destruction,” Stab said.
According to him, there are many legends with deep meanings in Romanian folklore and we must keep Manole in mind when we make energy policies.
“Liberalization is good news, the process is going well, competition is increasing. We see that prices tend to stagnate and fall, we also see an improvement in market design, we believe that the Gas Release Program generates liquidity in the wholesale market, which is beginning to resemble with what we know from other countries,” added the head of the energy company.