Romania has energy gold in agriculture about which nobody wants to discuss because the wind and solar energy projects are favored, local investors said.
“The biomass plan made by the Ministry of Economy and the Dutch Environment Agency in 1990, still lies in the Romanian Ministry drawers”, Cristian Parvan, General Secretary of the Businessmen’s Association of Romania (AOAR) said in a press conference, and continued: “We have and we stand on energy reserves.”
He gave an example through which it was demonstrated that, since 2010, the farmers who has a farm of 1,000 hectares , be it in association or individualy, on 100 hectares, they can produce biofuel for agricultural works without depending on fuels and diesel. Parvan challenged Minister of Agriculture, Daniel Constantin, to start in 2015, the “First greenhouse” project, which will be heated by biomass or geothermal.
“We have installations with Romanian patent and producers supplying equipment at international level. (…) We have resources every way, in all areas that we don’t use” Parvan also pointed. “I believe we have many opportunities beyond the wheat, corn, barley, which are very good, but these don’t add value,” AOAR representative said.
Electricity exports surge
Meanwhile, according to National Statistics Institute (INS) data, Romania’s electricity production increased by 9 percent in the first eight months of 2014, compared to the same period of last year, to 41.5 million MWh (41.5 TWh). The output surplus went to exports, which increased almost sixfold. The estimated value of the electricity production for the period would be some EUR 1.6 billion, taking into consideration an average price of EUR 39 per MWh, based on statistics form the energy market operator OPCOM.
Renewable energy output increased significantly, due to new solar power plants. The solar energy production increased almost threefold, to 0.97 million MWh. Wind power output, on the other hand, was almost unchanged, at 2.9 million MWh.
The rest of the energy, some 17.2 million MWh came from thermal power plants, which increased their output by 5.5 percent.