Romania’s electricity imports were 86% higher in the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period last year, according to a report published on Thursday by Transelectrica. This situation is worrying for the country’s energy security and will lead to an increase in the bills paid by consumers, energy experts believe. The situation will worsen in the coming period, when consumption will increase even more. On Wednesday at noon, real-time data showed that Romania was importing massively, over 2,000 MW.
“Analyzing the evolution of the energy balance components, in the period January – September 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, we observe a 3% increase in net domestic consumption and a 7% decrease in net energy production. Physical cross-border export exchanges recorded an 18% decrease in 9L 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, and import exchanges recorded an 86% increase,” the Transelectrica report on the company’s financial results for the first nine months of this year shows.
So, with exports reduced to 5.1 TWh and imports increased to 6.4 TWh, the national energy system was in deficit, with 1.3 TWh taken from other networks, a situation opposite to the first nine months of last year, when the situation was the opposite – we had a surplus of 2.8 TWh. Imports increased by 3 TWh compared to the first nine months of last year.
Thermal Plants Closing, Yet Output Rises; Hydro and Renewables Drop
Amid rising consumption, electricity production fell by 7% in the first nine months of the year to just 37.8 TWh, mainly due to the dramatic drop in hydropower production due to weather conditions: minus 3.2 TWh less in this regard, or a 22% drop.
Nuclear power plants (minus 0.3 TWh or 4%) and renewables (minus 0.3 TWh or 4%) also produced less, despite a slight increase in installed capacity in this segment.
Thermal power plant production, however, increased by 0.3 TWh, or 2%, and, with a total production of 11.8 TWh, were the country’s leading source of electricity generation in the first nine months. This is despite the fact that, this year, thermal power plant closures continued.
“In the first nine months of 2024, the installed power in thermal power plants decreased by approximately 3%, from 5,630 MW installed on September 30, 2023, to 5,447 MW installed on September 30, 2024,” Transelectrica shows.
The data does not include the production of prosumers in the third quarter. The total installed power in the national energy system was, after the first 9 months, 18,509 MW.