State-owned coal-based electricity producer Energy Complex (EC) Oltenia will receive an aid package including grants, capital injection and guarantees for bank loans from the Romanian Government under the restructuring plan, which is already approved by the European Commission.
According to the restructuring plan, the Government will extend 535 million euros as a grant to help the company pay for the CO2 certificates related to this year’s electricity generation.
EC Oltenia will also receive 180 million euros as a capital increase and will be allowed to borrow 195.8 million euros from commercial banks, with loans 100 % covered by state guarantees.
The total amount of grants that the company can receive by 2025 stands at about 1.1 billion euros to finance the purchase of emission certificates. A 214 million euros grant was extended by the Government with the same goal last year.
The statement from the Government said that the share of EC Oltenia in total electricity generation is about 24 % and the company contributes significantly to the national energy security, mainly in extreme moments of prolonged drought or in winter periods with low temperatures, periods in which the contribution of coal-fired power plants in the production structure increased to almost 35 %.
