Alina Oprea • 16 August, 2023 at 9:20 AM
The first wind power projects could be installed in the Black Sea in 2027-2028, said the Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja. According to the minister, there is a huge potential in that area, which Romania will not fully exploit, probably never. Moreover, by 2030, Romania could have installed 3 GW (3,000 MW) in wind energy projects in the Black Sea, according to a study carried out by analysts from EMBER, a think-tank focused on identifying solutions regarding the transition to renewable energy. Romania currently does not have a strategy or the necessary legislation to develop the wind potential of the Black Sea.
"Sometime this autumn we will have a law for the exploitation of energy from wind sources in the Black Sea, after which a rather long process follows, together with ANRM (National Authority for Mineral Resources) to define these exploitation perimeters, plus the zone of environmental and security approvals, in a very complicated region and with all the related implications. I hope that from 2027-2028 we will also see the first wind power plant projects in the Black Sea because there the World Bank tells us that we have a huge potential, 75 gigawatts, a potential that Romania will probably never fully exploit. But anyway, 10-20 gigawatts can be exploited in 10-15 years from now," said Sebastian Burduja.
He says that from July 17, 2023, the Ministry of Energy put the bill for wind energy in the Black Sea into public debate and the intention is to create this legislative framework right from the beginning.
"If we have the right legislation, the investments will come. If not, we all went through the experience of the off-shore law aimed at the exploitation of gas from the Black Sea, and for years investors were blocked because it was not a favorable legislative framework, but the Party National Liberal changed the respective law and managed to correct it and today we have a final Neptun-Deep investment decision", emphasized the Minister of Energy.