The Romanian Energy Center Association in partnership with Energynomics and SMA, with the support of Electrica SA and Amber Infrastructure Group organized the “Financing Opportunities for the Romanian Energy Sector and 3SI Regional Projects” working lunch, in the margin of the 8th Summit of the Three Seas Initiative held in Bucharest. The aim of this conversation was to bring to the forefront of Romania’s energy sector the prospects of developing new energy projects based on the resources provided by the Three Seas Initiative. Representatives of the largest energy companies active in Romania, members of the Energynomics community and business leaders, as well as senior officials from public institutions participated in the dialogue.

Two keynote interventions have outlined the general context, marred by the war in Ukraine and massively influenced by the energy transition efforts. Sebastian Burduja, the Romanian Minister of Energy, talked about Romania as being “blessed with a great energy mix with access to very diverse resources”. “We at the forefront of this effort regionally and globally of not just living on a greener planet, but stop climate change or at least mitigate its effects”, said the minister. He also mentioned the crucial role Romania, alongside Poland, should play in rebuilding Ukraine after the war ended. A lot of energy will be needed, Burduja added, and he asked the companies under the authority of the ministry to participate in the first CfD auction planned to take place before the end of the year. “ 

We are very advanced with our contracts for difference scheme, a state aid scheme that essentially fixes the strike price for 15 years for investors in solar and wind, and at some point, in nuclear and hopefully in geothermal and other sources of energy. We will start with the tender for solar and wind, one gigawatt for each. That will really ensure that investors in serious projects have stability over a longtime horizon”, Sebastian Burduja said.

At turn, general James L. Jones, Former National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, Executive Chairman Emeritus Atlantic Council, talked about the geopolitical dimension of the Three Seas Initiative. He highlighted the fact that “the 3 Seas nations had been leaders on the continent for diversifying away from Russian energy and embracing transatlantic cooperation on energy security.”

In a panel moderated by Corneliu Bodea, the Chairman of the Romanian Energy Center, six prominent business leaders presented their views and answered questions on the financing opportunities for the Romanian energy sector within the framework of the Three Seas Initiative: Piotr Karnkowski, Chairman of the Management Board of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund, Joe Philipsz, Head of The Three Seas Investment Fund at Amber Infrastructure Group, Laurențiu Neculaescu, President of the Environment Fund Administration, Cosmin Ghiță, CEO of Nuclearelectrica, Lukas Nemec, COO and CO-Founder of Enery, Tomasz Sek, Co-founder of R.Power.

They also commented on the present status of operations and near future plans for developing energy projects in Romania and in the region. The 3 Seas Initiative is not merely an economic format, noted Corneliu Bodea, “but it is much more about shared values”, and energy plays a very important role because “energy security energy affordability and energy efficiency constitute the critical pillar for building democracies and prosperity”. As organizers of this event, Energynomics and the Romanian Energy Center Association reaffirmed their commission to support and to promote the projects, companies and people involved in the energy sector.