Karoly Borbely, Hidroelectrica: “We have fantastic potential in Romania, but we need to invest a lot in energy and industrialization”

“A company like Hidroelectrica, which produces 30% of the country’s electricity and has a market capitalization of 15% of the capital on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, must behave appropriately.

If you play in the Champions League, you cannot waste time and throw the ball out of the field. You have to be on the attack all the time and keep up with the market all the time.

At this moment, the growth potential in Romania is fantastic. Unfortunately, the investments that have taken place in the last 2-3 years should have been made 15 years ago, and Romania would have had a stronger position now,” Karoly Borbely, CEO Hidroelectrica said at Energy CEO Forum organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest.

Key statements:

• In the past, when we were talking about a consumption of 8,500 MW, it was a trivial matter and did not represent a consumption that would scare anyone. Today, with an energy consumption of 8,500 MW, we have to import between 2,000 and 3,000 MW, which is absolutely incredible.
• We have a very rich country, with many resources, everyone is making extremely great efforts and we finally have an energy strategy for the country.
• Hidroelectrica is investing very strongly. In 2023, our investments were about 280 million lei. Last year, investments exceeded 600 million lei. For 2025, we have an investment budget of 1.7 billion lei, so it is an exponential growth in recent years.
• We took over 40% of the shares of the former company UCM Resita, which is now called UCMH Resita. This year we have a budget of 25 million euros to invest in equipment and machinery to be able to carry out our maintenance activities in-house, without depending on companies from China or other countries.
• It is a difficult process; it is not easy to rebuild a plant founded in 1771. We have a partnership with universities and we try to attract students to work with us, we explain to them what a state company means, what a listed company means.
• This year we completed, after 21 months, a complete rehabilitation of an energy group at Portile de Fier, a historic first for us. It was a very complex work.
• We have very good prospects and we want to invest to be stronger in our country. We are also interested in innovative projects; we have invested in energy storage at the Crucea wind farm.
• We have many other projects in preparation and it is essential to strengthen this company; we need to develop core business in order to be able to produce electricity.
• We have fantastic potential in Romania, but we need to invest a lot in energy and industrialization.