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The situation in Romania is stable in terms of natural gas supply, as we do not have direct contracts with Gazprom, and we have already identified alternative sources and routes of gas supply to reduce dependence on imports from Russia, but for our country it is important to operationalize and operate at full capacity the Vertical Gas Corridor and the Trans-Balkan Gas Supply Corridor, says the Minister of Energy, Virgil Popescu.
"Today I attended the extraordinary meeting of the Energy Council convened urgently in Brussels on the subject of ensuring energy security at European level in the context of Gazprom's recent actions to stop gas supply to Poland and Bulgaria. The situation in Romania is stable as our country does not have direct contracts with Gazprom. However, it is necessary to start ahead of time the steps for filling the natural gas deposits for next winter. In this context, I welcome the European Commission's initiative to set up the European Energy Platform for the joint procurement of natural gas, which will have the role of aggregating demand from member states and concluding supply contracts with third countries other than Russia. On May 5, I will attend a first meeting in Sofia of the regional working group dedicated to operationalizing the platform in the south-eastern region of Europe, together with my counterparts from neighboring countries," the minister wrote on his Facebook page on Monday evening, Agerpres.ro informs.
He stressed the importance of the Vertical Gas Corridor and the Trans-Balkan Gas Supply Corridor to ensure the flow of gas from LNG terminals as well as from Azerbaijan.
"Romania has already identified alternative sources and routes of gas supply to reduce dependence on imports from Russia. From this perspective, I conveyed to the European Commission that it is important for Romania to operate at full capacity the Vertical Gas Corridor and the Trans-Balkan Gas Supply Corridor. These corridors are particularly important to ensure the flow of gas from LNG-type terminals, as well as from Azerbaijan, having in this regard discussions with the Azerbaijani authorities to identify available gas volumes", Virgil Popescu mentioned on the social page.
The minister also added that he informed the European Commission, in the bilateral dialogues he had with the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, and with the Director General Ditte Juul Jorgensen, on Romania's efforts to exploit the potential of deep onshore and offshore natural gas in the Black Sea, stating that it wants a speedy adoption of the Offshore Law by the Parliament, in order to operationalize this project.
"In the medium and long term, Romania is firmly committed to decarbonization by significant investment in renewable sources and hydrogen, while ensuring energy independence by maintaining a diversified energy mix. In this regard, it is necessary to accelerate nuclear projects by building Units 3 and 4 of Cernavoda nuclear power plant and the refurbishment of Unit 1, the development of small modular reactors in Romania, the construction of new natural gas-powered electricity generation capacities and the development of the related infrastructure, as well as the extension of coal use for a period of time. We need to harness the potential of the indigenous crisis, create jobs through new energy projects and reduce our dependence on imports. Ensuring an affordable price for consumers and maintaining the competitiveness of domestic industries are particularly important for the economic recovery of Romania and the EU", pointed out Virgil Popescu.
