Romania's renewable energy sector has seen significant growth in the past few years and it offers further potential to achieve the planned climate neutrality in the year 2050.
For the green transformation of the Romanian economy, it is of critical importance to have a true alignment of the private and public sectors.
Romania should have a body that regulates the ESG field (environment, social, and governance), and the ministries should prepare sustainability reports, says Călin Ionescu, CEO of Sphera Franchise Group. Although there is an obligation to publish the ESG report for all companies with over 500 employees, apart from multinationals, most do not publish it because there is no sanction.
In 2022, BCR granted funding of approximately €2.5 million for the development of associations and social enterprises, supporting the creation of approximately 1,800 jobs. More than 67,000 children and adults learned to build a better relationship with money through financial education workshops organized by BCR volunteers and partner associations. More than 160 NGOs were supported to develop impact programs in local communities.
The Sustainability Academy was launched, the first social and educational platform dedicated to SMEs in Romania, with free access. The Sustainability Academy is a Sustainable Futures brand project initiated by Social Innovation Solutions together with the Coca-Cola Foundation, founding partner, and BCR, main partner. The Sustainability Academy aims to help SMEs willing to adopt sustainability strategies and aims to increase the number of sustainable businesses in Romania.
BCR gas entered the international market with the first issue of green Eurobonds, worth €700 million. The funds will be directed toward renewable energy projects, green mortgages, and green buildings.
The banking sector has a very important role in promoting the green economy by providing green loans and sustainable support.
BCR together with Erste Group arranged senior credit facilities for Enery Power Holding to acquire an 81 MW renewables portfolio.
Some of the key components of the necessary framework to support sustainability and attract additional investment for companies are transparency, monitoring and reporting, says Ilinka Kajgana, Executive Vice President Risk, Member of the Executive Committee at BCR.
Pehart Group, one of the largest tissue paper producers in Southeast Europe and the largest producer and processor of household paper products in Romania, is extending the syndicated loan obtained two years ago to €78 million.
SPIE Energy Poland announced new projects at a time of major investment in Poland to support the energy transition.
In 2023, renewable energy accounted for 24.5% of the EU's gross final energy consumption, marking a 1.4 percentage point increase compared to 2022.
EU countries have updated their goals for the deployment of offshore renewable energy up to 2050 in each of the EU's 5 sea basins, with intermediate objectives to be achieved by 2030 and 2040.
Registrations of battery-electric cars declined by 9.5% to 130,757 units in November 2024.
Nuclearelectrica announced a €1.9 billion EPC contract with an international consortium to refurbish Unit 1 and extend its life by 30 years.
