Subsidies for renewable energy to be reduced drastically

Subsidies for renewable energy producers as green certificates will be drastically reduced as of next year, Minister for Energy Constantin Nita said on Wednesday, December 4^th, for Agerpres. “As of next year, we will reduce subsidies for renewable energy. We have prepared a draft legislation in this regard, which we will approve in the next period”, Nita said. Asked how much the subsidies would be reduced, the minister said “the reduction will be dramatic”. He added that it was still planned to exempt large energy consumers from the payment of 50% of green certificates, but he wasn’t sure that it would be implemented as of next year, because it is necessary to get Brussels’ approval. The large number of wind turbines and solar panels installed in the past two or three years has greatly increased the consumers’ bill, especially in the case of energy-intensive industries. Green certificates received by renewable energy producers are paid by all Romanian consumers, from the final electricity bill. Last week, officials of the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) officially announced that Romania had already achieved its renewable energy target committed to the European Commission for 2020.