How the new “smart guys in energy” work. Bolojan: They have no plans to make investments, they have no resources. They just block capacities and sell papers
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan stated that Transelectrica and the companies that are the main energy suppliers have issued agreements to connect to the network of 78,000 megawatts, “eight times more” than Romania now has secured, investments whose realization is not feasible.
“If half of these investments were made, we could provide electricity to almost all of Central Europe”. Instead, the new smart guys in energy “block capacities”: “They have no plans to make these investments, they don't have resources, they just block them and sell papers”, said the prime minister in an interview with G4Media, according to News.ro.
“Romania needs approximately 9,000 megawatts to function. Any increase in production capacity by 10%, by 20% would be a big plus for us, because it would mean that we have a surplus of energy. Which would mean a reduction in energy prices. That's what we have to do. But we must not have any illusions that someone will invest to make 9,000 or 10,000 megawatts, to double this production capacity, because no they would not amortize their investments at all”, declared Bolojan.
“Serious people who want to invest are blocked”
The Prime Minister explained that, in the last 3 years, “Transelectrica, mainly, but also the companies that are the main suppliers, have issued network connection agreements, remember, for 78,000 megawatts, compared to the 9,000 we have already secured”.
“They released eight times more. This would mean that, if half of these investments were made, we could provide electricity to almost all of Central Europe, which of course is not feasible. But what is actually happening? Blocking some seats at a table where someone would like to invest, the moment a serious investor goes to Transelectrica and wants to make an investment, he is told one of two things. Or that it is not possible because the entire network is already occupied, so the chair at the table is occupied. Or, to intervene in the respective network, it basically means investing a lot of work, i.e. buying another chair”, explains the premier.
Ilie Bolijan claims that, in this way, “serious people who want to invest are blocked and we miss out on serious investments”.
“I have a piece of paper I can sell you”
“But it's possible that someone will call him the next day and say: “You know, in the area where you want to invest, I have a project, a piece of paper that I can sell you. So I'll give you the seat I reserved without contributing anything to that table, if you want. But for that you have to pay quite a lot of money, which means hundreds of thousands of euros or millions of euros”, says the prime minister.
Bolojan warned that, by occupying the capacity to connect you to our networks, “we simply blocked investments in energy or made them very expensive.”
Asked if these are the new smart guys in energy, Bolojan appreciated: “Certainly a good part of these people are the smart guys who stuck to energy because they block capacities. They don't plan to make those investments, they don't have resources, but they just block them and sell papers and sell only ideas and things that they blocked.”
What measures does Ilie Bolojan announce?
Ilie Bolojan announces that restrictions will be imposed on those who have already received technical approvals for connection, “in such a way as to increase their guarantees that if they do not make those investments, they will lose 20% of the value of that investment”.
“In this way, probably not overnight, but in the short term, we will free these networks from these parasitic projects to let those who want to invest in Romanian energy do it. This will lower our prices”, added Ilie Bolojan, noting that this will happen “quite quickly”.
“Very likely, in the middle of April we will see the new regulation that will change things. And we will make it transparent to all companies that they have received these authorizations. It seems to me that it is common sense to be as clear as possible transparency in this area as well. The energy zone is very important because it not only ensures a service at a reasonable price for citizens, it makes a part of the economy competitive or uncompetitive. If we do not increase the production capacity, if we do not put order in this market we will not be able to we are becoming competitive,” added the premier.
He appreciated that the price of energy can drop by 10-20% without problems, through a few measures.
