The European Commission has approved Romania’s plan to upgrade the district heating system of the municipality of Bucharest.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “This €254 million aid measure, funded thanks to EU structural funds, will help Romania achieve its energy-efficiency targets and will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas and other pollutants emissions, without unduly distorting competition.”

Romania notified the Commission of its plans to provide public support of approximately 254 million Euro for the rehabilitation of the distribution network (notably the “transmission” pipelines of hot water to the main distribution points) of the district heating system in the urban area of Bucharest. The planned support will take the form of a direct grant financed by EU Structural Funds managed by Romania.

The Bucharest district heating system is the largest in size in the EU, and the second largest in the world, serving 1.2 million inhabitants, covering around 940 km of thermic pipes for the transmission system and 2,800 km pipes for the distribution system. The rehabilitation of the Bucharest District heating will consist in the replacement of sections of main hot water transmission pipelines for approximately 10% of the overall length of Bucharest’s district heating network. This investment will reduce heat losses, water refill losses, network maintenance costs, as well as other losses. The measure will therefore contribute to energy savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants emissions.