Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

is the 38th largest energy consumer in the world and the largest in

South Eastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (al ...

as well as an important producer of

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

in Europe. The total energy consumption of Romania was in 2005 40.5 million

toe Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plan ...

structured as follows: *36.4% –

*25.1% –

and derivates *22.4% –

and coke *16.1% –

hydro Hydro from Ancient Greek word ὕδωρ (húdōr), meaning ''water''. Hydro may also refer to: Energy technologies * Water-derived power or energy: ** Hydropower, derived from water ** Hydroelectricity, in electrical form * "Hydro", AC mains ...

and others Greenhouse gas-wise, Romania is slightly greener than neighbouring countries due to its hydroelectric, nuclear and increasingly its wind plants. The Romanian government encourages further greenhouse gas emissions reductions through strong support to nuclear power as well as renewable energies in accordance with European and international experts.

Reserves

Romania's natural resources in the year 2007 were structured as follows: *Oil: 550 million tonnes. *Natural gas: 185 billion m³ * Bituminous coal: 755 million tonnes * Lignite: 1.49 billion tonnes Romania has the largest oil reserves in Central and Eastern Europe (''except Russia'') and the second largest natural gas reserves (''except Russia'') behind

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

but twice as large than Poland but it has the smallest reserves of coal in the region.

Oil

Romania's

oil production Petroleum is a fossil fuel that can be drawn from beneath the earth's surface. Reservoirs of petroleum was formed through the mixture of plants, algae, and sediments in shallow seas under high pressure. Petroleum is mostly recovered from oil dri ...

in 2007 was around 120,000 bbl/d while the consumption of oil was around 230,000 bbl/d. Romania had the largest

in the year 1976 when the total quantity extracted was close to 14.7 million tonnes. Since then the

increased and decreased regularly but in the last 10 years the production had a descending path.

Coal

In 2006 the total coal production of Romania was 34.1 million tonnes of which: * Bituminous coal: 2.9 million tonnes * Lignite: 31.2 million tonnes Almost all the coal extracted in the country is used for electricity generation, bituminous coal having a 7.2% contribution in all electricity produced in Romania and lignite having a 32.2% stake. Evolution of bituminous coal production: Evolution of lignite production:

Natural gas

In 2007 Romania produced a total of 12.3 billion m³ of natural gas the most important producers being Petrom with 6.3 billion m³ and

Romgaz Societatea Națională de Gaze Naturale Romgaz SA Mediaș (SNGN Romgaz SA) or simply Romgaz is the largest natural gas producer in Romania and one of the largest producers in Eastern Europe. The company is the country's main supplier and responsib ...

with 6 billion m³. The natural gas consumption in 2007 was 17.4 billion m³ with the local producers providing around 70% and imports of 5.1 billion m³ supplying the rest.

Electricity

In 2006 Romania produced a total of 62

TWh TWH or twh could refer to: * Tai Dón language, a language of Vietnam, Laos, and China * Tai Wo Hau station, Hong Kong; MTR station code * Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed of horse * Toronto Western Hospital, a hospital in Toronto, Canada * Tun ...

of electricity having an installed capacity of 17,360 MW in

thermal A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...

and

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an el ...

s. The

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

generation was structured as follows:

Hydropower

Romania has an estimated total usable hydropower of 36,000 GWh per year. In 2007 the total installed capacity of

hydropower plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

s in Romania was 6,400 MWh all of which were owned by

Hidroelectrica Hidroelectrica is a leader in electricity production and the main provider of technological services required in the National Energy System in Romania. The company is currently managed in a dual system, by a Management Board, under the supervisio ...

. In 2007, Romania produced 19.8

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...

. Romania co-owns the

Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station The Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station ( ro, Porțile de Fier I, sr, Ђердап I/Đerdap I) is the largest dam on the Danube river and one of the largest hydro power plants in Europe. It is located on the Iron Gate gorge, between Romani ...

on the

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

located on the border between Romania and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, which is one of the largest

hydroelectric power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

s in Europe with an installed generation capacity of 2,216 MW by 6 generating units of 175 MW each on the Serbian side and 6 generating units of 194.4 MW on the Romanian side. The two countries also jointly operate the

Iron Gate II Hydroelectric Power Station The Iron Gate II ( ro, Porțile de Fier II, sr, Ђердап II, translit=Đerdap II) is a large dam on the Danube River, between Romania and Serbia. Characteristics The dam is built at the Danube's . The project started in 1977 as a joint-v ...

with an installed generation capacity of 537 MW by 8 generating units of 27 MW on the

n side and 10 generating units of 32 MW on the Romanian side. The largest

on the inner rivers of Romania is the Lotru-Ciunget Hydroelectric Power Station with an installed generation capacity of 510 MW but this

will be surpassed by the Tarnița – Lăpuștești Hydroelectric Power Station which at completion in 2014 will have an installed generation capacity of 1,000 MW.

Nuclear energy

Romania currently has 1,400 MW of

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

capacity by means of one active nuclear power plant with 2 reactors, which makes up to around 18% of the national power generation capacity of the country. This makes Romania the 23rd largest user of nuclear power in the world. The

Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant The Nuclear Power Plant in Cernavodă ( ro, Centrala Nucleară de la Cernavodă) is the only nuclear power plant in Romania. It produces around 20% of the country's electricity. It uses CANDU reactor technology from AECL, using heavy water p ...

( ro, Centrala Nucleară de la Cernavodă) is the only nuclear power plant in Romania. It uses

CANDU reactor The CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) is a Canadian pressurized heavy-water reactor design used to generate electric power. The acronym refers to its deuterium oxide ( heavy water) moderator and its use of (originally, natural) uranium fuel. C ...

technology from

AECL Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in the 1950s, and in October 2011 licensed this ...

, using heavy water produced at Drobeta-Turnu Severin as its neutron moderator and water from the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

for cooling. There are also plans for the construction of a second nuclear power plant in

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

that will either have 2 reactors of 1,200 MW each or 4 reactors of 600 MW each with an electricity generating capacity of 2,400 MW and will be constructed after 2020

Wind power

, Wind power in Romania has an installed capacity of 10 MW, up from the 3 MW installed capacity in 2006. Romania has a high wind power potential of around 14,000 MW and a power generating capacity of 23

, but until 2007 there were no significant wind farms in operation.

Other renewable energy

The annual energy potential for

renewable A renewable resource, also known as a flow resource, is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of ti ...

energy in Romania is: *

Wind energy Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically, w ...

: 23

Hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...

: 36

* Solar energy: 1.2

electricity and 16.7

thermal energy The term "thermal energy" is used loosely in various contexts in physics and engineering. It can refer to several different well-defined physical concepts. These include the internal energy or enthalpy of a body of matter and radiation; heat, de ...

* Geothermal energy: 1.9

* Biomass and

Biogas Biogas is a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste and food waste. It is a ...

: 88.3

Biofuels

In recent years Romania increased its production of biofuels in a sustained manner. The country uses

rapeseed Rapeseed (''Brassica napus ''subsp.'' napus''), also known as rape, or oilseed rape, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains a ...

as a source of

biodiesel Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat ( tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil ...

. In 2007 Romania had a total cultivated area of 430,000 ha with

Rapeseed Rapeseed (''Brassica napus ''subsp.'' napus''), also known as rape, or oilseed rape, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains a ...

and had a production of 750,000 tonnes. In 2007 Romania produced 400,000 tonnes of

mainly from

and sunflower seeds. The German company MAN Ferrostaal invested US$200 million in the construction of a

refinery in

Sibiu County Sibiu County () is a county ( ro, județ) of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Its county seat ( ro, reședință de județ) is the namesake town of Sibiu (german: Hermannstadt). Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szeben m ...

that produces around 142,000 tonnes of

per year. There are other companies that are interested in investing in

in Romania like the Martifer Group in Portugal that will build a

refinery in

Călărași County Călărași () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Călărași. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 285,050 and a population density of 56.02/km2. * Romanians – 95% ...

where it will invest US$120 million. When this refinery will be at full capacity, Romania will be in the top ten

producing countries in the world.Romania intre primii 10 producatori de biodiesel din lume
/ref>

References

{{Europe topic, Energy policy of

Energy in Romania