Romania’s Ministry of Energy and GeoAlliance Discuss Geothermal Investments

On February 13, representatives of the Romanian Ministry of Energy met with GeoAlliance project experts to discuss the role of geothermal resources and biomethane in the energy transition.

GeoAlliance is a Romanian-Norwegian bilateral project that includes research and information dissemination activities in the field of geophysics. It is funded with the support of grants from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Romania 2014-2021 financial mechanism, within the SME Development Program in Romania.

Florina Tuluca PhD, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics of the University of Bucharest and director of the GeoAlliance project, presented the results of the project.

Particular emphasis has been placed on the management of scientific databases on renewable energy resources such as geothermal and the impact of these data on attracting private investment in the geothermal sector and reducing the costs of investigating the geothermal potential of an area.

She also highlighted the importance of valorising municipal solid waste that cannot be recycled, either by capturing the biomethane emitted by landfills or by incineration. In this context, the district heating system of the city of Oslo was mentioned, an example of a SMART city that has efficiently implemented the waste-to-value concept and thermal energy storage solutions during peak periods to compensate for times of high market demand.

Florina Tuluca also pointed out the most recent projects of the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics of the University of Bucharest (UB) in the field of energy – the project Geysir-Baia Mare and the project Driving Sustainable Urban Futures: A Romanian-Norwegian Innovation Geophysical Alliance for Green Transition and SMART City Development (funded with the support of grants from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Romania 2014-2021 financial mechanism, within the SME Development Program in Romania) and their potential to support the development and exploitation of geothermal resources in Romania.

Prof. Lucian Petrescu PhD, dean of the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics of the UB, reiterated the continuous support of the academic environment of the faculty he represents for the national energy transition efforts. They mentioned that specialists working within the institution can make a significant contribution through applied research and projects in the field of geothermal resources and renewable energy.

Andrei Baicu, Ancuta Schiopu and Anca Vandici, senior advisors and experts of the Ministry of Energy, presented the challenges and opportunities in the field of geothermal resources in the northern area of Bucharest and in the town of Otopeni. They also made an analysis of the dynamics of investments in renewable resources made in the last period, mentioning the ambitious plans for the development of this sector in the medium and long term.

The Ministry of Energy aims to support investments in geothermal energy and other renewable sources in order to contribute to Romania’s energy transition and to fulfil the European decarbonization objectives.

In conclusion, participants in the meeting agreed on the need to strengthen collaboration between the public, academic and private sectors to stimulate the development of renewable energy resources and to accelerate the transition to a sustainable and performing energy system.