Romania Plans New 150-MW Gas-Fired Plant

Romanian gas supplier Romgaz has signed a memorandum with services firm Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP) Holding on the development of a 150-MW gas power plant and 50-MW solar plant in the country's southwest, the Romanian government said in a statement on September 11.

The generation capacity will be built in Halanga, in the county of Mehedinti. GSP will be responsible for financing the project and serve as its operator, while Romgaz will supply gas. Costs were not disclosed and Romgaz did not respond when asked by NGW where gas for the new power station would be sourced.

The gas plant will be very flexible, the government said, making it suitable for balancing Romania's energy system. 

Romania produces around 20-25% of its electricity from gas and around the same amount from coal. But some of its coal-fired capacity is being shut down because of stricter EU emissions standards coming into force and the mounting cost of EU carbon permits. This could provide more room for cleaner fuels such as gas.

Romania currently relies on a mix of domestic and Russian gas supply to cover demand. But domestic production has stagnated, with the level having changed very little in the last decade. Romania had hoped to become a net exporter of gas by developing several large discoveries in the Black Sea, but so far only one of these projects, the Midia field, has been sanctioned.

A final investment decision on the larger Neptun Deep find is still pending, and operator OMV Petrom has complained that recent changes in Romanian tax and regulation have made the project unfeasible.