The Romanian Ministry of Energy submitted a proposal to the European Commission to allow three coal-fired generation units to continue operating in commercial mode and another two to be maintained as technical reserve beyond 2026.
At the same time, the Ministry submitted an updated restructuring plan to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), which proposes to postpone the closure of these units until the end of 2029. According to the proposal, five mining operations at the Oltenia Energy Complex would also continue to operate during this period.
On 1 January 2021, Romania had 4,920 megawatts (MW) of coal-fired power generation capacity. Of this, 1,695 MW was decommissioned by 31 December 2021, and a further 330 MW in 2023 (half of the 660 MW target for that year).
Under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), Romania committed in 2021 to decommissioning an additional 1,425 MW by 1 January 2026, plus the remaining 330 MW, bringing the total planned closures to 1,755 MW. These capacities are located at the Oltenia Energy Complex (1,305 MW), at the Electrocentrale Craiova (300 MW), Govora (100 MW) and Iași (50 MW) plants.