Romania and the Transition to Clean Energy

The WHO estimates that air pollution claims over seven million lives across the world

Corina Cristea, 12.02.2021, 13:59

The WHO estimates that air pollution claims over seven million lives across the world, also causing illness and missing workdays. A recent study indicates that reducing pollution to levels recommended by the international organization could prevent over 50,000 deaths every year in Europe. The deadly nature of fine particles for health, for instance, is shown mostly in urban areas, where it is manifested in the number of deaths, respiratory and heart disease, disruption of pregnancy, and poor fetal development. Rapid action is needed aimed at road traffic, industry, ports and airports, but also coal and wood based heating systems. At present, only 18 EU countries still use coal, among them Romania, where thermal plants of this type are concentrated in two companies in the south, Oltenia and Hunedoara. Eliminating coal-fired plants around the world, and cutting subsidies for fossil fuels are among the measures that could have a high impact in working towards a clean environment. This considering that Brussels is determined to act more resolutely for fighting climate change. In December, member states convened that by 2030 they would reduce by at least 55% their emission of greenhouse gases, compared with 1990. On longer term, the aim would be to reach climate neutrality by 2050. According to Bloomberg, in 2020 renewable energy sources have produced 38% of the electricity needed by the EU, as compared to 34% in 2019. This increase was enough to offset for the first time the amount of energy produced by fossil fuels. The rapid rise in wind and solar forced coal on a descending slope.

2020, however, was also the year in which restrictions imposed by the pandemic affected the demand for energy on the continent, as recalled on Radio Romania by Otilia Nutu, public policy analyst for energy and infrastructure with the Expert Forum:

“With the present policies, last year for the first time energy from renewable sources exceeded that produced from fossil fuel. The expectation is that in 2021 we would get back to the coal sector, but most likely the longer term shock will be an acceleration in reducing basic coal capacity. The question is what to replace it with. We will definitely have to replace it with new and flexible plants, to also cope with the discontinuities in renewable sources. However, the idea is to build capacities that dont get us stuck in consumption of fossil sources over a long period of time.”

Otilia Nutu explained that replacing coal with gas-fired plants could create another kind of problem. Even if they pollute less than coal, the problem is that an investment in a gas plant gets a return in about 30 years. The statistics in the EU show that in 2019 production of energy based on coal, gas, and oil was 71%, a significant drop over the last few decades, thanks with the rise of renewable energy. In the case of Romania, the figure is 73%.

The president of the Intelligent Energy Association, Dumitru Chisalita, recalls that, over the last five years, there have been numerous accords signed by Romania. These agreements are aimed at reducing carbon emissions, and the main targets were coal-fired plants. He said we have to prepare for the future:

“We have to expect that in 2025 we will have a decision related to individual home heating centrals, and in 2030 another one that will have to do with means of transportation. All these elements are already being anticipated. The investments that will have to be made are both in terms of green production, but also storage. Because we have to bear in mind that green energy is not continuous, it is dependent on the weather. And then we, the EU and Romania, have to develop major storage capacities that can quickly come on line and supplement energy when it goes down. Also, network technology will have to be taken into consideration, because it will have to be adapted to how renewable systems operate, which will be another major investment component. Last but not least, we have to see a wish to consume renewable, a demand. We are talking about a massive conversion of transportation from classic fuels to electric supplies. Also, by 2050, we should have moved away from heating with wood and gas, going for electric. All this means huge capacities, which have to be developed to supplement this consumption, which will incur very high costs.”