The European Commission (EC) announced that it will grant Romania 38 million euros under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the expansion of its Bilciuresti underground gas storage facility.
The Commission said that the project will help Romania and the region reduce dependence on Russian gas imports during peak consumption observed in winter by increasing storage capacity and its overall flexibility.
Increased cross-border interconnection of energy infrastructure is a key enabler for the European Green Deal, as it makes it easier to integrate more renewable energy into the grid. It was also a priority highlighted in the REPowerEU plan earlier this year to increase the EU’s security of supply, the EC concluded.
With the capacity of 1.3 billion cubic meters, Bilciuresti facility is the largest of the six gas storages operated by Depogaz, a subsidiary of state-owned natural gas producer Romgaz. These six facilities represent 90.5 % of Romania’s total gas storage capacity.
