A major energy project in Romania, announced with great fast, goes out. “The geo-political situation is not favorable to complete such an investment”

Launched in Bucharest, in 2022, by the Government of Romania and the governments of three other countries, in the presence of the President of Romania since then and of the European Commission, an great energy project has become uncertain, according to the statements of officials in the energy sector. This is the high -capacity DC cable, which had to cross the Black Sea, to connect Romania by Georgia, the interconnect to be extended in Hungary and Azerbaijan.

“Regarding the DC cable of high capacity, which should pass on the bottom of the Black Sea, the geo-political situation is not faulty to complete such an investment,” said Bee Sándor, the chairman of the Commission for the Chamber of Deputies, during an organized conference, on Wednesday, by the newspaper.

“And I am not necessarily referring to the war between Russia and Ukraine, no other states are the most friendly between them, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. I do not think it is the most stable area, there is a perpetual political instability where we try to import electricity,” added Beede Sándor.

Secretary of State: I cannot say the term

“It is done, it is not done anymore? I think it is not done anymore, that no one has spoken anything about the respective project,” said Ovidiu Demetrescu, OCD Capital & Resource and London Broker, the conference moderator, addressing the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Energy, Pavel-Casian Niţulescu.

“It is an alternative supply route for both Romania and neighboring countries. I, personally, believe in it (n.red. In the project) even if it will be operationalized in a time horizon a little longer,” said the Secretary of State.

Asked when the project will be completed, Niţulescu did not offer a deadline. “It is the longest cable – 1,200 km. The investment will be quite large, the time horizon may be for years. I cannot say the term,” said the Ministry of Energy official.

How did the submarine cable enter a shadow cone

In the last half year, shortly after the completion of a feasibility study was announced, no government official mentioned this project, although, until April, it was considered “one of the most important energy infrastructure projects of the next decade”, as the former Minister of Energy said.

The Ministry of Energy announced, at the beginning of April, that the feasibility study for the high voltage interconnector in DC (HVDC), the so-called “green corridor”, has been successfully completed, and the results are positive.

Asked by HotNews about costs and next stages of the project, the ministry representatives responded, in May, that they cannot provide information.

The Ministry of Energy's response was that “the project partners cannot make available to the public additional information compared to those already broadcast through the press releases”.

In the April statement, the Ministry of Energy claimed that the “East-West interconitor enters the next phase”, but did not specify, at the request of Hotnews, which is this.

Question signs have appeared since last year

The representatives of the four states involved signed on December 17, 2022, in Bucharest, an agreement that provided for the realization of the “green corridor”, more precisely the construction of a cable through which green energy was transported below the Black Sea.

The agreement was then signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, Georgia Prime Minister, Iraqli Garibashvili, former prime minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciuca, and Hungary Prime Minister, Viktor Orban. The signing took place in the presence of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the former president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis.

However, even if the agreement was signed in the presence of Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission expressed, in 2024, doubts about its compatibility with European legislation.

“The Commission has doubts about its compatibility with the Legislation of the Union, because the agreement does not include provisions to ensure that the law of the European Union and the obligations of Hungary and Romania resulting from the quality of members of the European Union are prior to the obligations provided in the agreement,” a Memorandum of the Government shows.

What companies were involved in making the “green corridor”

The project is involved in the State Transelectrica company along with Taqa (Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC), Meridiam (France), Fluor (USA) and E-Infra (Romania).

Some of the investors who have signed the memorandum are also involved in the innovative project of the nuscal mini-rectors to be built in Doicești. This is the E-Infra, the shareholder Nova Power & Gas, and the Americans from Fluori. HotNews.ro wrote at large about them.

The cable should count, through the Black Sea, Romania and Georgia, the connection being prolonged in Hungary and Azerbaijan. In January 2025, a joint venture company was set up, and the founding associations are Transelectrica, JSC Georgian State Electrosystem (Georgia), OJSC “Azerenerji (Azerbaijan) and MVM Energy (Hungary), each having a 25%participation.

The company is called Geco Power Company – Green Energy Corridor Power Company SRL and is based in Bucharest. The administrators of the company are Florin Stanciu (Romania), Attila Bally (Hungary), Mammadov Farhad (Azerbaijan) and Zviad Gachechiladze (Georgia).

The feasibility study was done by the Italian consulting company CESI. Azerbaijan was the one who contracted the Italian company, on behalf of the signatories of the project agreement, being transferred to the project company.

In theory, the high voltage submarine cable in DC will extend on 1,200 km, cross the Black Sea, connecting with Georgia, and will cost about 3.5 billion euros. It is not clear whether this amount represents the whole project or just that stretches on the territory of Romania.

Great energy projects that have failed in recent years

In the last 15 years, Romania has been involved in several major energy projects that have failed over time.

The project of the hydroelectric plant with accumulation by pumping Tarnița – Lăpuștești suffered failure after failure after several cancelings, resumptions and extensions of auctions for a new feasibility study. Former Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja said that it is the “soul project”. “The 50-year-old project regarding the construction of the hydroelectric plant with accumulation by Pump Tarniţa-Lăpuşteşti, was rolled from one government,” he said.

One of them provided for the construction of a submarine cable for the transport of electricity from Turkey to Romania. A few years in a row he was considered a strategic project, until 2015 when he was removed from government strategies because he had absolutely no interest in investors.

In 2013, the former Minister of Energy Constantin Niță wanted to force the Romanian state-owned companies, such as Romgaz, to invest in this project, even if he had not proved to be feasible, but the Fund Proprietatea and great funders were opposed.

Another big strategic project was Getica CCS regarding the capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Turceni. It was estimated at one billion euros in 2011. Gradually, it also proved to be unchanged and disappeared from government strategies.

There were also Agri, which provided for the transport of liquefied gas from Azerbaijan, through Georgia and the construction of a liquefied gas terminal. For this project there were numerous meetings at the level of ministers of the states involved, but the project failed to show that it is not feasible.

Another project was Nabucco which provided for the gas delivery from the Gazier Field Shah Deniz 2, located in Azerbaijan, through a pipe that would have started from Bulgaria and crossed Romania, Hungary, reaching Austria.