According to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) agreed with the European Commission, Romania will gradually shut down its entire coal-fired capacity of 4.59 GW coal-fired by the end of 2032.
Thus, Romania has become the 19th European country to formalize plans for coal phase-out. However, coal phase-out is far from being a done deal in Romania. The sharp rise in electricity prices faced by the country this year is partly due to scarce generation capacities (both conventional and renewable), and the commitments put even more pressure on the deficit and prices.
Most of the capacity (3.78GW) will be closed by the end of 2023, according to the data included in the PNRR. Under the agreed schedule, Romania will shut down units with a total capacity of nearly 1.7 GW this year.
The capacity left in place after the end of 2025 (0.8 GW) is the equivalent of three large units of Energy Complex Oltenia (probably the entire Rovinari power plant), which will be maintained as a strategic reserve at the disposal of the national energy dispatch.
To substitute the coal-fired power plants, Romania will invest in new gas-fired power plants with a capacity of 1.3 GW by the end of 2025. The new renewable capacities will reach at least 3 GW by mid-2026, out of which 2 GW is to be completed by the end of 2025.
Currently, Romania has a total installed capacity of 3 GW in wind farms and almost 1.4 GW in solar power plants.
Under the agreed schedule, the country plans to add 6.9 GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030, of which more than 3.7 GW will be solar capacity.
