Romania seeking to postpone shutdown of lignite power plants (updated)

OMV Petrom SA

16/10/2023 11:58

(Adds quote, detail on projects)
       BUCHAREST, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Romania will seek European
Commission approval to postpone the closure of its lignite-fired
power plants, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said on Monday.
    The government has committed to phasing out lignite - or
brown coal - from 2026 under its European Union-funded recovery
aid package, although Burduja said he would temper expectations
for now on a change to the date.
    State-owned lignite power holding CE Oltenia has partnered
with three private companies - OMV Petrom  ROSNP.BX , Tinmar and
Alro Slatina - to build solar parks and gas-fired power plants
as part of Romania's energy shift.
    "Unfortunately, because of delays, the lignite shutdown will
not coincide with the coming online of these new projects, which
might create difficulties for the national power grid," Burduja
told a news conference.
    The minister said he would go to Brussels for talks on the
postponement this month.
        
  
        
  

 (Reporting by Luiza Ilie, writing by Jason Hovet; editing by
Toby Chopra and Jason Neely)
 ((jason.hovet@thomsonreuters.com;))