Romania has asked the European Commission and the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) to provide support as the country prepares to shut down Cernavoda’s second reactor, while also seeking permission to keep several coal-fired units operating beyond their planned shutdown deadline of August 31.<\/p>\n
Secretary of State at the Ministry of Energy Cristian Bu\u0219oi said Romania activated the “early warning” mechanism on August 7 and notified the next level, a “crisis situation”, on August 10 under Article 14(2) of Regulation 941\/2019, according to Agerpres<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bu\u0219oi raised the issue at the European Commission’s Electricity Coordination Group meeting on August 11, presenting Romania’s electricity situation, the imminent shutdown of Cernavoda Unit 2 and measures adopted by the government to manage the supply risk.<\/p>\n Romania asked the European authorities to assess available generation capacity, balancing reserves, cross-border interconnection capacity and the ability of neighboring electricity systems to provide support if regional conditions deteriorate further.<\/p>\n EU officials indicated that member states would co-ordinate to ensure Romania, Hungary and Slovenia can cover their electricity needs during peak hours. Under the arrangements discussed, Romania could receive up to 4,000 MWh, which is over 50% of the country\u2019s peak consumption.<\/p>\n Separately, Bucharest is seeking an extension of the permitted operation of coal-fired power plants that are scheduled to close under Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).<\/p>\n Bu\u0219oi said the planned August 31 closure of the Turceni 5 unit, covered by PNRR milestone 119A, would be particularly difficult given the current electricity supply situation. He said Romania was seeking European Commission approval to continue operating four coal-fired units beyond the deadline.<\/p>\n “The closure, on August 31, of the Turceni 5 coal group, part of milestone 119A, is extremely problematic in the current situation,” Bu\u0219oi said, adding that Romania would continue seeking agreement to operate four units after August.<\/p>\n The available coal-fired capacity at Turceni, Rovinari and the two Craiova units amounts to almost 900 MW of net generation capacity, Bu\u0219oi said, describing it as an important reserve as Romania prepares for the loss of Cernavoda’s second reactor.<\/p>\n