Coal-fired electricity producer Energy Complex (EC) Oltenia’s management already approved a 50 million euros loan from the Ministry of Finance, by using its assets as a collateral for the loan. The funds are intended to cover the purchase of emission certificates for electricity produced during 2020.
President of the Romanian Competition council Bogdan Chiritoiu said that the Government will help EC Oltenia to get funds for the purchase of emission certificates by the end of April, before the European Commission completes its investigation into the company’s restructuring plan.
Chiritoiu said that the investigation could take several months and EC Oltenia needs the funds urgently in order to purchase of last year’s emission certificates, which is due at the end of next month.
In late 2020, the Romanian Government has signed the Memorandum for the restructuring of state-owned EC Oltenia under a five-year program that involves some 2 billion euros of support from both state and the European Union’s decarbonization program. The memorandum involves 1.33 billion euros of state aid, out of which 250 million was already extended as a rescue loan that the company could not return. The company will use the state aid for financing the purchase of CO2 certificates over the period when the group is replacing its traditional coal-fired power unit with more modern gas-fired units and renewable energy capacities.
