RSS
Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic could have to increase electricity imports over the next 10 years
Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic are among the states less energy dependent of the EU but they might be obliged to increase the imports of this kind over the next ten years, due to the delay in nuclear projects and the closing up of old coal units. The construction projects for nuclear units in Central and Eastern Europe are delayed or even annuled due to the deficit of financing and the uncertainties connected to energy price. This fact endangers suppliy with energy of the countries in the region and the plans to close down the polluting units working on coal.
Investors withdraw from such projects, worried that the new prices for energy will not bring them a good profit. Many countries in the region intended to increase the capacity of production of nuclear energy, to ensure constant supply and to observe the EU targets regarding the carbon dioxide emissions reductions. The projects are delayed by big costs, the decrease of energy companies decrease and uncertainties regarding the price of carbon dioxide certificates.
Recently, the GDF Suez, RWE and Iberdrola withdrew from the construction project by 2017 of two new reactors for the Cernavoda unit. The CEZ group withdrew the project in 2010. There are only two foreign partners in the project ArcelorMittal and Enel and Romania will look for new investors, the delay of the works being possible.
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Poland record the same delays of construction plans or expansion of the nuclear capacities. « Investment in new capacities for energy generation must appear, they must be constructed and right now » Michael Labelle, expert in energy in Budapest said. He showed that there are several negative factors which discourage these projects, the problem of financing, the governments being less disposed to invest, while the EU plans that prices be competitive increase the uncertainty connected to their level in the future.
In Lithuania, the failure to draw investors determined the president of the state to say that there is a need for rethinking alternatives. In the Czech Republic, the CEZ group, the biggest company of utilities in Central Europe, postponed in 2010 a bid for the expansion of the nuclear unit in Temelin.
The authorities in Slovenia should have approved last year the construction of the second nuclear unit, but it did not take place.
Croatia is uncertain to decide before 2012 if to take part together with Slovenia and Hungary in the construction of a new unit or to construct a second unit on its territory. Poland obtains the biggest part of the energy on the basis of coal and wants to construct a nuclear unit, but it had difficulty in finding skilled workers but the amendment of legislation. « The world has changed. Everybody is more cautious when it comes about big expenses. These projects are more complexe than last year. The interest for the risk is lower so that the number of partners is higher » Stephan Wertshulte, the head of research department in the domain of energy generation in the Accenture consultancy company.
Romania, where almost the whole energy production in the state ownership, estimates that they should close down or replace a third of the old units, by 2020. The request for energy should be, according to estimates, increased by then by 2% per year. With the exception of some small hydropower units, Romania built the last unit in 2007, when the second nuclear reactor in Cernavoda of 706 MW started functioning.
The minister of economy waits to see if the partners that were left Enel and ArcelorMittal will be interested in more shares for the two units, and then they will launch a bid for new investors.
According to the plans initiated by the government, the construction of the two reactors should have started in 2009 and finished in 2014-2015. In 2009 the terms for beginning and finalising the works were extended to 2011-2012 and 2016 – 2017. The procedures to draw investors for the construction of units 3 and 4 started in 2006. The unit in Cernavoda is the only nuclear unit in Romania.