The Romanian TV Antena 1 broadcast a report in which it points out that Bulgaria has overtaken Romania in terms of energy and calls our country "the battery of the Balkans", BTA reported.
„Bulgaria is one step ahead again. In a strategic sector: energy. After putting their finances in order and switching to the euro, the Bulgarians have set themselves another goal: to become “the battery of the Balkans“. The southern neighbors today do more than just produce energy. They import it almost free of charge from Romania or Greece, store it and resell it to us and the Greeks during peak hours, when prices are eight times higher“, the quoted source states.
Reporter Greta Nyagu's material, realized with the help of Bulgarian journalist Vladimir Mitev and with the participation of leading experts from both sides of the Danube, draws attention to the fact that Romania produces cheap energy from renewable sources during the day, but has no storage capacity. For this reason, it is forced to export it for free and import it back in the evening at up to 10 times higher prices.
On the other hand, Bulgaria invests massively in storage infrastructure. It buys cheap energy from Romania and Greece during the day, stores it in batteries and resells it to the same countries during peak hours. Our country is in the top 3 in Europe (after Germany and Italy) with a storage capacity of more than 12,000 megawatt hours. In the event of a complete breakdown, Bulgaria can maintain its grid for 2.5 hours only with the help of batteries and pumped-storage hydroelectric power plants (PSHPs), while Romania can last a maximum of 15 minutes, the report states.
It states that although Romania had around 15 billion euros in European funds for the energy sector at its disposal, the authorities have allocated the money without a clear strategy, ignoring storage.
Thanks to the batteries, the price of evening energy in Bulgaria is much more stable and lower than in Romania (with differences reaching up to 180 euros per megawatt-hour). Thus, Romanians pay one of the most expensive energies in Europe in relation to their purchasing power.
„We sell cheaply and the most absurd thing is that we sell energy that was largely developed with the support of the state – through the granting of certain subsidies or European funds – and then we buy it at peak times at a much higher price“, explains economic analyst Razvan Nicolescu.
“The Bulgarians, on the other hand, had a different approach. They financed these programs and battery storage from the very beginning. [...] The results were visible over time, because at the initial moment it was a risky decision – they were indeed more expensive – "but they currently have much greater installed storage capacity," said Silvia Vlasceanu, director of the Association of Electricity Producers, adding: "We will get to the point where we watch our neighbors develop, and we will just stand there, watch and say: 'Why didn't we do it when we had to'."