Wind power in Romania

Tihuţa Pass wind turbine

Wind power in Romania has total cumulative installed capacity of 3,028 MW

as of the end of 2016, up from the 14 MW installed capacity in 2009.

Romania has the highest wind potential in continental Europe of 14,000 MW;
in 2009 investors already had connection requests of 12,000 MW and the national
electricity transport company Transelectrica offered permits for 2,200 MW. A
study of Erste Bank places Romania and especially the Dobrogea Region with
Constanţa and Tulcea counties as the second best place in Europe (after Scotland)
to construct wind farms due to its large wind potential. Another study made by the
Romanian Energy Institute (REI) said that wind farms could contribute with 13
GW to the national power generation capacity by 2020.

Romania’s power grid operator Transelectrica, on Thursday, October 3, signed

an EU financing contract worth EUR 33.43 million for the construction of the 400
kV Gutinaș - Smârdan Air Line.

The total value of the investment is EUR 56.76 million.

The project is mainly aimed at the transfer of renewable energy from the wind
farms concentrated in the eastern part of the country, but will also strengthen the
transfer capacity from Romania to Moldova and more generally on a South-North
route along the Black Sea shore from Bulgaria.

The project is funded through the Large Infrastructure Operational Program

(LIOP) 2014 - 2020. Specifically, this contract provides financing for the
construction of a 140-km power line (138 km airline and 2 km underground cable).
16 September 2019

This new investment will increase the transfer capacity on the route from 2200
MW (2013) to 3200 MW (2023). This will allow the production of energy from
renewable resources to be absorbed into the national power grid under conditions
of maximum safety.

Advantages of Wind Energy

 Wind energy is a green energy source and does not cause pollution.
 The potential of wind power is enormous – 20 times more than what the
entire human population needs.[1]
 Wind power is renewable and there is no way we can run out of it (since
wind energy originates from the sun).
 Wind turbines are incredible space-efficient. The largest of them generate
enough electricity to power 600 homes.
 Wind power only accounts for about 2.5% of total worldwide electricity
production, but is growing at a promising rate of 25% per year (2010).[3]
 Prices have decreased over 80% since 1980 and are expected to keep
decreasing.[4]
 The operational costs associated with wind power are low.
 Good domestic potential: Residential wind turbines yields energy savings
and protects homeowners from power outages.