The Romanian Government has mandated the Ministry of Energy to start talks with the European Commission in order to extend the state aid scheme to subsidize the large industrial electricity consumers in Romania, hit by electricity prices driven up by the costly CO2 certificates, until 2030.
The scheme has been in force since 2019 and expired at the end of 2021 when the Government disbursed 130 million euros to 34 recipients such as aluminium manufacturer Alro and fertilizer producer Azomures.
In 2020, the volume of disbursements, which is in close relation to the price of the CO2 emission allowances, was 84 million euros for 33 beneficiaries.
The support scheme is established to prevents the relocation of greenhouse gas emissions outside the European Union, followed by some 200,000 jobs in energy-intensive industries that contribute 6 % to Romania’s GDP.
The recipients of the scheme are energy-intensive consumers with activity in the field of production of textile fibers production, manufacture of leather garments, manufacture of paper and cardboard, extraction of ferrous ores, extraction of minerals for the chemical industry, manufacture coke oven products, manufacture of other basic inorganic chemicals, manufacture of fertilizers and nitrogen products, manufacture of synthetic and artificial fibers, production of ferrous metals, in primary forms, and ferroalloys, aluminium metallurgy, production of lead, zinc and tin and copper metallurgy.
