Bucharest, November 21, 2023 – # rbj – On November 21, the Minister of Energy, Sebastian-Ioan Burduja, participated in the ministerial meeting of the Steering Committee, established in accordance with the provisions of the Strategic Partnership Agreement in the field of green energy development and transport between Governments Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary.
The “Green Corridor” project provides for the construction of a direct current cable, which will connect all four states. The Ministerial Agreement underlines the importance of green and clean energy in combating global warming and preventing climate change, encouraging mutual cooperation in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency and green hydrogen, with a view to increasing the security of energy systems and stability of supply.
It also supports the expansion of the existing infrastructure for the transit of electricity produced from renewable energy sources to Romania and Hungary, through Georgia, and to other European countries.
The 5000 MW direct current (HVDC) underground cable would cross Romania from east to west. Recently, the state company Transelectrica announced that a feasibility study will be developed for this cable, and in this sense it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with TAQA, Meridiam, E-INFRA and Fluor.
The cable would be 850 kilometers long. Some of the investors who signed the memorandum are also involved in the innovative NuScale mini-reactors project that was supposed to be built in Doicești, but which just failed in the USA.
During the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the relevant ministries of Romania, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Hungary regarding cooperation in the field of green energy, in order to deepen collaboration in order to achieve common objectives regarding the development of the green energy sector, including hydrogen production.
Sebastian Burduja addressed the media present at the event in Romanian, underlining the importance of eliminating European dependence on states that “used energy as a weapon or at least as a tool of blackmail” in relation to the European Union.
Sebastian Burduja, Minister of Energy: “We come together in this project, the Green Corridor, because we all want to strengthen the energy security of the entire region. Romania is ready to assume the role of energy hub, provider of stability, having all the necessary resources: from solar and wind energy to nuclear energy and geothermal sources. This project, launched in Bucharest in December 2022, in the presence of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has the duty to move forward quickly, with the support of everyone. We must act in full coordination with our national strategies and with a long-term perspective. They say that sometimes we have to plant the seed of a tree in the shade of which we will never rest, but it will be there for our children and grandchildren. We are here today for such a project.”
The Green Corridor project enters the straight line. The system operators of the four countries will form a project company and the feasibility study will be assigned in the shortest time. The Romanian Minister of Energy proposed that the company’s headquarters be in Bucharest, with the final decision to be taken during negotiations in the next period.
