Director of the Valea Jiului Energy Complex: We risk a blackout in the national energy system
Articol de Ilie Pintea, 29 Septembrie 2025, 18:34
The Lonea and Lupeni mines are to be closed by the middle of next year, with the production pits being the first to cease operations. Even though there was a schedule established several years ago, the natural gas power generation units have not yet been built to replace the coal-fired power plants, so the National Energy System may face major difficulties.
Eduard Mija, director of the Valea Jiului Energy Complex: We have moved quickly in terms of decarbonization and the transition to green energy and we are in an atypical situation, in the sense that those funds that were going into the area of natural gas-based energy projects have not had a purpose. As such, we risk, by the end of 2026, from my point of view, a blackout in the national energy system.
Even with the four mines still producing coal, the Paroseni Thermal Power Plant in the Jiu Valley has been out of service since July, when a fire damaged a transformer, and the coal stocks will not be used until next month at the earliest, if repairs are completed in time.
The Mintia Thermal Power Plant, where a Jordanian group is investing over one and a half billion euros, will only start producing gas-fired energy at the end of next year.
Recently, the Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, announced that he is in intensive negotiations with the European Commission to obtain an extension of the deadline assumed by Romania regarding the closure of coal mines and power plants.
Translated by: Radu Matei
