Bucharest, Jan 9 /Agerpres/ - Mintia, the largest gas-fired power plant in Europe, will be fully completed in 2026, and by the end of this year at least 1,000 MW of capacity should be already connected to the grid, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja told a press conference on Thursday.

'My favorite watchword this year is: investments, investments, investments. If we want Romanians to have safe, accessible and clean energy, we must make investments. Every megawatt we add to the national energy system means the chance for Romanians and Romanian companies to have lower bills. Last year we commissioned somewhere around 1,200 MW of capacity, I think this is more than in the previous four years combined. This year we plan to double our performance to somewhere around 2,500 MW. Based on Transelectrica and industry data, we could even reach over 3,800 MW. (...) Many of the investments are underway and depend on the seriousness of those who implement them, and of those who provide financing. At least as far as the projects financed by the Energy Ministry are concerned, our guarantee is that they will receive support in a very short time,' Burduja said.

In this context, the minister mentioned a series of investments, such as the Navodari cogeneration plant (72 MW) and the Iernut plant, with over 95% completion rate.

'In June this year we should have 430 MW of capacity at the Iernut gas-fired facility, as you well know. There are also a few more somewhat smaller investments: the heat and power plants CET Arad, CET Oradea, CET Brazi, CET Arad Hidrocarburi, CET Palas in Constanta. All these projects should be completed by the end of this year, although for example Constanta and Arad have the middle of next year set as a deadline under the NRRP. In Constanta the completion degree today is 50% and there are high chances that it is finalized this year. (...) Mintia will be the largest gas-fired power plant in Europe, which will be ready in 2026, and having an extra 1,091 MW this year would be a fantastic help for next winter,' Sebastian Burduja said.

He also mentioned wind power capacities, which are largely private investments. Thus, about 529 MW should be put into operation in 2025, of which 65 MW are financed through the NRRP, while on the storage side the estimate is 600 MW of installed capacity, which, according to the minister, means somewhere around 1,200 MWh. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Badea, editor: Mariana Nica; EN - editor: Simona Klodnischi)