The Speaker of the Senate of Romania and leader of the National Liberal Party Florin Chitu said that Romania would reopen the energy complexes “Oltenia” and “Hunedoara” to resume electricity production from coal in the current energy crisis, local media reported.
“The Prime Minister met yesterday with representatives of the Oltenia and Hunedoara energy complexes to restart these capacities that use coal,” Chitu quoted the agency as saying. “It is clear that in this difficult situation, all “Europe is looking at alternative resources for energy production and Romania already had such resources.”
“We will extract coal if we have it, and if not, we will have to import it. This will add 300 megawatts, and we will have to hire about 600 people in the mining sector, which is good news for these people who have been affected by job cuts.” Chitu added.
“The resumption will be carried out only because of this situation,” Chitu specified. “Let’s see how long this situation will continue.”
He added that “if Europe returns to coal mining,” Romania will also consider a project to extract this fuel in the Roscia Montana region.
Chitu also said before Wednesday’s cabinet meeting that he had met with representatives of the US company Last Energy, which is developing innovative solutions for small modular nuclear reactors with an installed capacity of 20 MWh.
According to the website of the Romanian government, the US company “will work together with the state-owned nuclear technology company (RATEN) and implement a demonstration project in Mioveni.”
Romanian authorities have previously announced the closure of numerous coal-fired enterprises, including the Oltenia and Hunedoara complexes, including coal mines and thermal power plants, and replacing coal-based energy by 2032.
The most prominent companies in the industry are taking part in the EU Platform for coal-producing regions in transition, designed to help them shift from fossil fuels to “clean” energy based on wind, solar and thermal water.