Romania and the European Union remain firmly committed to their 2050 climate-neutrality target, as well as to the intermediate targets for 2030 and 2040, Cristian Busoi, Secretary of State, Ministry of Energy, said at the Green Energy Conference, organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“For the European Union and for Romania, the objectives for 2050, as well as the intermediate objectives for 2030 and 2040, remain more valid than ever,” Busoi said. “I say this not only as Secretary of State responsible for European and international policies, but also as a former chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, while remaining in close contact with my former colleagues and with those who are now in positions of responsibility in the European Parliament.”

According to Busoi, the EU’s response to the current energy crisis, compounded by geopolitical tensions and the conflict in the Middle East, should be to accelerate electrification and the transition towards a low-carbon energy system.

“The objective remains very clear: climate neutrality by 2050 and the Green Deal, with an accelerated reduction in emissions through all the objectives of the Fit for 55 for 2030 and the objectives for 2040,” he said.

“The European Union’s response and solution to the energy crisis we are going through today, a crisis amplified by the conflict in the Middle East and by the geopolitical situation, is to accelerate electrification,” Busoi added.

He emphasized that renewable energy will continue to play a central role in this transition.

“When we talk about the Green Deal and accelerating electrification, investment in renewables clearly remains the main pillar,” Busoi said.

For Romania, the energy challenges faced during the summer highlighted the importance of expanding renewable generation capacity, particularly amid the temporary shutdown of Units 1 and 2 at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant.

“In the case of Romania, during this difficult summer and this completely unexpected situation, with Units 1 and 2 at Cernavoda still shut down and with no clear horizon for the reopening of the two reactors, we managed to get through this period more easily, especially in terms of security of supply, with the help of renewables,” Busoi said.

He pointed to increased wind generation and growing solar capacity as important factors supporting the electricity system.

“We were fortunate to have increased electricity production from wind sources and, certainly, solar energy helped us significantly,” he said. “ANRE, as well as Transelectrica and the distribution networks, accelerated the authorization and commissioning of new capacity in order to compensate, as much as possible, for the shutdown of Units 1 and 2 at Cernavoda.”

Against this backdrop, Busoi said that the development of energy storage should become a top priority for Romania, alongside further investment in renewable generation.

“Therefore, for Romania as well, in the period ahead, we see as an absolute priority supporting renewable energy projects, with a special focus on storage,” he said.

“One of the other lessons of this summer is that, unfortunately, we did not understand early enough the value and the need to support storage much more actively, first of all by accelerating permitting procedures, but certainly also through co-financing,” Busoi said.

He referred both to storage facilities associated with existing generation assets and to standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS).

“If we had also had this storage capacity in operation, we certainly would have been less dependent on electricity imports, especially during peak hours,” Busoi said.

“We need new storage capacity as soon as possible so that next summer and in the next period we can benefit from these investments,” he added.

The comments were made during the Green Energy Conference, organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest, bringing together representatives of the energy industry, public authorities and other stakeholders to discuss Romania’s energy transition, renewable investments and the development of the electricity system.