Hydroelectric power plants are not sufficiently backed in Europe, we are facing difficulties in continuing older investments, and procedures are becoming increasingly bureaucratic, the general director of Hidroelectrica, Bogdan Badea said on Tuesday.

'We are the largest producer of electricity in Romania. We have 6.3 gigawatts in hydroelectric power plants and 108 megawatts in wind power. So, theoretically, we are perfectly aligned with the objectives set by the Green Deal at the European Union level. In reality, however, I believe that what was omitted or treated as a 'Cinderella' of renewable technologies was hydropower. Hydropower plants remained somewhere in the middle: we operate green, sustainable technologies, we create added value where we have lakes, including artificial ones, and we create infrastructure and tourist attractions. (...) At the same time, from another perspective, hydroelectric power plants are not sufficiently supported in Europe - and we have felt this in the last 10 years. We are facing difficulties in continuing older investments, and procedures are becoming increasingly bureaucratic. The big question is: 'Where are we? Is hydropower still a technology supported at the European Union level, is it not supported? Is it encouraged or not?', Badea said at the regional conference 'The Economist Romania Government Roundtable'.

He stressed that, if an 'x-ray' of the energy sector in Romania is taken, a difference in pace is observed: we were very fast in decommissioning important basic capacities, but we did not put in place other, more environmentally friendly technologies quickly enough.

Bogdan Badea also drew attention to the fact that, if old technologies are replaced with new ones, the pressure on the system will increase, so more storage capacity will be needed.

'Honestly, I do not think that a hydroelectric power plant is less environmentally friendly than a battery. Yes, batteries are useful - and we use them to optimize production - but in the long term I believe that hydropower is the sustainable technology. And I think that this is one of the problems with the way the Green Deal was built. However, it is not too late to try to encourage investments in hydro and reduce bureaucracy. For example, in Romania we need about five years to obtain environmental authorization, according to European legislation, adapted to national legislation, even to replace old equipment with new one. And we built the Vidraru power plant entirely in almost the same period, six years,' the Hidroelectrica director also said.

Major economic themes such as financial stability, investments, technological transformation, competitiveness and sustainability of public systems are on the agenda of the high-level regional conference The Economist Romania Government Roundtable, organized by The Economist editorial group in Bucharest, between March 30 and April 1.

Senior officials from Romania are in dialogue these days with officials from the region and at European level, as well as with business leaders, in sessions moderated by Joan Hoey and Alasdair Ross, editors of The Economist. AGERPRES(RO - writing by: Nicoleta Gherasi; EN - writing by: Bogdan Gabaroi)