The main theme of the Government, through the Ministry of Energy, is to ensure regional interconnections including to all of Europe, for the flow of natural gas and electricity transport, Pavel Nitulescu, secretary of state with the Ministry of Energy told a specialist event on Wednesday.
"The main theme of the Government through the Ministry of Energy is to ensure regional and not only regional interconnections, to all of Europe, with everything that the flow of natural gas and electricity transport means. At the moment, we have many interconnections prepared and in the process of being operationalized. Starting from here, from the Trans-Balkan gas interconnector, the Vertical Corridor, the Brua gas pipeline, the Iasi-Ungheni-Cisinau gas pipeline. These are great projects that will be developed through an increase in the bidirectional transit of natural gas. Through these interconnections, we can say that Romania, at the moment, is even an important transit node. We benefit from the largest natural gas production in the region where we are located and the 2nd place in the European Union. The degree of dependence on gas supply from other sources outside the European Union is quite low. The percentage ensured is approximately 80-82% of our own production, on Romanian territory, through the companies that are involved in the gas exploitation project," Nitulescu explained.
He underscored that the national gas transport operator Transgaz is the main operator in Romania, even in Europe.
"If we look at the Stock Exchange, the shares have increased since the beginning of the year, in the first 9 months, they almost doubled. However, economic growth is visible. The 18% difference ensures the necessary functioning for Romania, and the difference is a transit route to Central Europe. Through these interconnections, we have managed to ensure stability for our neighbours in the Republic of Moldova, especially through the investment in the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline project, we have managed to ensure them some independence only towards us and the European Union," the secretary of state also said.
Regarding the interconnection on the electricity side, Romania has interconnections with neighbouring countries, which are quite developed, including the Republic of Moldova.
"The major project that will be developed, I cannot give a specific period, is the Green Corridor, which includes the submarine cable with the energy that will come from the states of Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and directed to Hungary, Slovakia and the rest of Central Europe, through that HVDC cable [submarine direct current transmission cable - editor's note], with a capacity of 5,000 MW that would also take over the energy produced in the southeastern area of Romania, through those strategic projects that are currently being implemented," added Nitulescu.
The 13th edition of the "Energy in the Plug" conference, organized by the Bursa newspaper, takes place on Wednesday, in Bucharest, and among the topics proposed for discussion are the interconnection of electricity and gas networks in Europe and the alternative to Russian resources.
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