Romania could risk losing access to European funds as it seeks to postpone the closure of coal-fired power plants amid mounting pressure on the country's electricity system.
Romanian media reported that the government wants to delay the planned shutdowns after the second reactor at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant, the country's only nuclear power station, was taken offline.
Romanian Energy Ministry State Secretary Cristian Bușoi outlined the country's difficult energy situation during a meeting of the European Commission's Electricity Coordination Group.
He said Romania activated an early warning mechanism last Friday before declaring a "crisis situation" on Monday evening.
Bușoi warned that the planned shutdown of Unit 5 at the Turceni coal-fired power plant, part of Romania's energy market reform commitments, could create additional difficulties under the current circumstances.
He asked the European Commission to allow four generating units at the plant to continue operating beyond August.
The Romanian official also proposed assessing the capacity of neighboring countries' power systems and cross-border electricity interconnections to determine how they could support Romania in the event of a worsening energy crisis.
Romania's attempt to keep its coal-fired generation capacity operating longer than previously agreed could, however, put at risk European funding linked to the country's energy transition and reform commitments.
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