According to the Association of renewable energy producers in Romania (PATRES), the support scheme based on green certificates is collapsing. The mandatory quota of green certificates was reduced by 30 % for the first quarter of this year, while half of green certificates in the market cannot be capitalized and the losses of RES producers are piling.
The statement from PATRES said that the association is concerned regarding the decision of the National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE) to establish a mandatory quota for the acquisition of green certificates for economic operators, for the first three months of 2017, at a value of 0.21 green certificates per MW.
President of PATRES Viorel Lefter said that ANRE’s decision will lead to an increase of losses of producers of electricity from renewable sources. Producers will no longer be able to sell 1.25 million green certificates for 2017, which will add to the over 11 million green certificates that are in excess on the market at the moment.
Year by year, the mandatory quota of sustained renewable energy has been reduced so that the impact of green certificates on the final consumer’s energy bill does not increase. Thus, the quota for 2017 was set at 8.3 % below the level of 2016 and far below the 16 % quota initially stipulated by the law, which made possible investments in the renewable sector. PATRES said that successive quota cuts lead to a very low take-up of green certificates, which will further increase distortions in the market and cause huge losses to producers.
In fact, for the years 2017 and 2018, only half of the total green certificates in the market are covered by quota and find buyers.
