On Sunday, February 5, Romania exported large amounts of electricity. Export capacity reached a third of national production, according to Transelectrica data.
The large production of hydroelectric and wind power plants allowed the total production in the country to exceed the threshold of 9,000 MW per hour. For example, at 9 o’clock in the morning on Sunday, it was even more than 9,300 MW.
Of this, the contribution of wind turbines reached 2,700 MW, and hydropower plants 2,400 MW per hour. The nuclear power plant was operating at full capacity, while the gas plants were at 1,600 MW. Thermal power plants operated with less than 1,000 MW of power. Under these conditions, electricity production was much higher than consumption – below 6,300 MW on Sunday around 9 am.
At that moment, the export of electricity reached a capacity of 3,029 MW per hour, which is this year’s maximum.
The large production of electricity affected the drop in spot prices in Romania and the region. The spot price on the market in Bucharest was 108 euros per MWh, the same as in Bulgaria. It is one of the lowest prices in Europe, with the exception of the Iberian and Scandinavian peninsulas.
As for physical flows, during all 24 intervals electricity flows from the Romanian to the Hungarian and Bulgarian grids.
The maximum export at the Romanian-Hungarian border was reached at 11 p.m., with an export of 2,433 MW, and at the border with Bulgaria at 5 p.m. – with 1,558 MW.
In the third and fourth weeks of January, Romania was the leading exporter of electricity in the region, with net exports of 258 GWh and 263 GWh, respectively.