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Renewable energy capacity over January - April 2016 dropped 9.5 percent
Romania's renewable energy capacity over January - April 2016 dropped 9.5 percent from the end of 2015 to a total installed power capacity of 4,653 MW, shows data centralized by power grid operator Transelectrica.
At the end of April, wind farms accounted for 2,932 MW of the total, PV parks had a capacity of 1,305 MW, micro-hydro power plants accounted for 313 MW and biomass energy projects stood at a cumulative capacity of 103 MW.
At the end of 2015 renewable energy production capacities connected to the system stood at a combined 5,142 MW by 489 MW more than at the end of April 2016.
The steepest decline, of 272 MW, was in the power capacity of micro-hydro power plants, the wind turbine capacity also decreased by 197 MW and that of photovoltaic parks decreased by 20 MW. Only installed biomass-to-power remained the same.
Renewable energy producers receive free green certificates they can trade on a specialized market for unbundled gain. The green certificates are paid by all consumers in Romania, households included, through the final electricity bill.
According to a Government Resolution passed on December 30, 2015, this year's mandatory renewable electricity quota eligible for promotion through the green certificates system is set at 12.15 percent of the final gross energy consumption, as to 11.9 percent in 2015.
''If we consider also the exemption agreements issued by the end of 2015 (for roughly 7,000 GWh) and in 2016 (roughly 1,000 GWh), the impact of green certificates in the bill of non-exempt end electricity consumers (households and SMEs) will rise from 35 lei/MWh to about 43 lei/MWh,'' reads a government release issued at the end of 2015.
Between 2008 - 2010 the Romanian authorities had in place a very generous support scheme for renewable energy producers, with 19.5 billion euros available for the entire period of implementation; this was considered the most generous green energy support scheme in the European Union. However, because of the increasingly higher impact on bills, the authorities began trimming and deferring certain benefits for renewable energy producers.
On their part, renewable energy producers complain that following the authorities' decisions they can no longer trade their green certificates and therefore many companies in this sector will end up in bankruptcy.