Romanian Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu and CEO of Norwegian company Arbaflame Bjorn Knappskog have signed a letter of intent to transform the operation of CET Paroseni into a sustainable one in terms of CO2 emissions, in line with the objectives assumed by the Romanian Government to achieve the targets of the energy transition.
The statement from the Ministry said that the collaboration with Arbaflame will involve the replacement of the coal that consists the main fuel for the operation of the Paroseni power plant, with the pellets produced by Arbaflame, and, in the long-term, includes the construction of a pellet production plant in Romania. These plants will use sustainable biomass resources, which will help reduce CO2 emissions by more than 90 %.
Minister Popescu said that this partnership involves a massive decarbonization, because it will replace the coal burned at CET Paroseni with sustainably produced pellets, with a low rate of CO2 emissions. It is a first step undertaken in the decarbonization process for the Jiu Valley. The tests will start in the first half of 2022.
Arbaflame is a Norwegian company that has developed a patented technology for pellets that share the properties of coal, but which burns with a significantly reduced amount of greenhouse gas emissions.