Foreign Investors' Eric Stab: EUR 70 billion investment in next 10 yrs in Romanian energy system

The companies announced investments of over 70 billion euros in the Romanian energy sector in the next ten years, most of them in electricity generation, said on Monday Eric Stab, vice president of the Council of Foreign Investors (FIC) and CEO of Engie Romania, on his participation in an online conference on the energy transition, organized by the FIC.

"Most of this amount, 31 billion euros, will go to the electricity sector: 26 billion euros in production, including renewable sources, and the remaining 5 billion euros in networks," Stab said.

At the same time, 24 billion euros will go to the natural gas sector, 19 billion in production, including the offshore sector, and the remaining 5 billion in pipelines.

"An amount of 13 billion euros will go towards the renovation of buildings, and 3 billion euros in district heating," the FIC representative continued.

For her part, Christina Verchere, Vice President of the FIC and CEO of OMV Petrom, said at the same conference that it is essential for Romania to prepare to draw the funds provided by the EU for the energy transition.

"70 billion euros is a huge amount, we must be sure that we have the necessary funds for these projects to be implemented. The energy transition is the biggest change that companies in this sector are going through. The main ability is to absorb the money. We need to be sure that we will absorb this money, there are huge sums that will be available, their exact amount has not been established yet, but we need to prepare to bring this money. Cooperation between the private and public sectors is essential," Verchere said.

She referred to the importance of clear legislation, which should not be followed by changes, but should be predictable, in order to attract investors.

"The mechanism for vulnerable consumers is essential and should be implemented as soon as possible," Verchere added.