Tarnita-Lapustesti Mega-hydropower Plant, a Project of National Strategic Importance

The Tarnita-Lapustesti pumped-storage hydropower plant (Cluj County), which should have a capacity of 1,000 MW, is one of the oldest Romanian energy projects that failed to make it past this stage. Discussions about building a mega-hydropower plant began as early as 1975, but the project has fallen into oblivion for more than 10 years. But now, energy minister Sebastian Burduja wants the project to be declared of national strategic importance, so that it can benefit from accelerated implementation.

This is the most important investment for balancing the national energy system, and its timeliness has been confirmed by experts in the energy sector. The project was included in 2018 on the list of the Dancila Government’s strategic investment projects to be prepared and realized in public partnership, but things have not moved forward. Now there is a chance for things to change, after two bids for the feasibility study of the project were submitted in the tender organized by the Energy Assets Management Company (SAPE).

The construction of CHEAP Tarnita-Lapustesti, with an installed power of 1,000 MW, required a greenfield investment of more than EUR 1 billion according to older analysis. The project initially envisaged that this hydropower plant would be built over 5-7 years, 30 kilometres from the city of Cluj-Napoca, on the valley of the Somesul Cald river, with four groups of 250 MW each.

“I would still like the big energy projects to be supported by the big energy companies – Hidroelectrica, Romgaz… We have a great opportunity and, I think, a great responsibility. Storage is the first need of the national energy system. We have calls launched from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) – EUR 80 million, by the end of the year another EUR 200 million from the Modernization Fund. These are aimed at battery storage. At least as important is storage in pumped storage hydropower plants. Of these, the flagship project is Tarnita-Lapustesti, which we restarted under the current government, and which is at the stage of evaluating the bids for the feasibility study,” the energy minister recently said.

In this context, the official said that the ministry was working on a normative act to declare the project of national strategic importance and to ensure an accelerated implementation, to be exempted from all obligations from which it can be exempted, so that this project can be implemented in the shortest time possible.

 

Feasibility study rework failed

“We’re talking probably a billion euros worth, roughly, installed capacity between 500 MW and 1 GW, probably four turbines. And what we have done is to put out for public consultation an analysis and, of course, a feasibility study at the 2023 level. It’s not the first time Romania is trying to do this project, but now all the evidence shows that the time is ripe,” the energy minister noted last year.

Despite this positive message, the tender for a new feasibility study, launched in October last year, was cancelled earlier this year. The cost of the feasibility study was estimated at EUR 3.5 million, with a maximum duration of 12 months. Last November, minister Sebastian Burduja announced that two of the world’s largest companies in the field, EDF of France and Itochu of Japan, had shown interest in the Tarnita-Lapustesti project and have proactively approached the ministry to make available all their resources and expertise.

However, the tender was finally cancelled in January this year due to a lack of bids. Subsequently, SAPE came back with a new tender and two bids were received. “The submission of bids for the feasibility study marks a crucial moment for the development of the Tarnita hydropower plant. The SAPE team will carefully evaluate these bids to ensure compliance with legal requirements and to successfully advance this vitally important project for Romania’s energy security. The submission of bids for the feasibility study is the first step, but with it, we can say that the construction of the Tarnita hydropower plant has officially started. We are proud to be involved in a project of such magnitude and responsibility,” said the President of the SAPE Management Board, Bogdan Nicolae Stanescu.

 

Why is the project important

The opportunity and necessity to realize the project of the hydropower plant with accumulation and pumped storage (CHEAP) Tarnita-Lapustesti is based on the following advantages and functions provided for the national energy system by a pumped storage power plant:

• Increasing the security of the National Power System
• Transfer of electricity from off-peak load to peak load, electricity market arbitrage
• Short-term reserve in case of failure; frequency-power regulation and spinning reserve
• Provision of reactive reserve and voltage regulation in the National Power System; exchange via interconnection within UCTE
• National Power System black start capability, the ability to restore grid interconnections in the event of a blackout; implementation and management of NPS of intermittent renewable sources of electricity ensuring optimal conditions for the installation of more than 4000 MW of wind power plants.

According to the Ministry of Energy, the Tarnita-Lapustesti hydropower plant will be a regional provider of balancing and storage services, being the best location in Romania for the development of a pumped storage hydropower project. It will help ensure the energy security of Romania and part of Central and Eastern Europe, in the context of the war in Ukraine, the threat of the European energy crisis and uncontrolled energy price fluctuations.