Romania and Turkey are expected to submit proposals by the end of this month for the construction of an electricity interconnector linking the two countries, the Romanian energy ministry said in a statement on Friday (10th May).
The two countries have brought back to the table the possibility of Romanian exports to Turkey, following a meeting between Turkish energy minister Taner Yıldız and his Romanian counterpart Constantin Nita in Turkey this week.
"It is highly important for Romania to develop a direct link to Turkey regarding electricity flows," Nita said. "We will be submitting possible offers by the end of this month."
The news comes just days after ICIS revealed that Romania, Turkey and southeast European countries could save up to $5.00/MWh (€3.82/MWh) in generation costs if they created a regional energy pool, according to a study by energy executive Burak Guler under the auspices of Canada`s University of Waterloo (see EDEM 7 May 2013).
Romania and Turkey could establish reverse flows of electricity for anything between 600MW and 1GW.
Romania first mooted the idea of a subsea cable 10 years ago. However, a number of feasibility studies conducted failed to materialise.
Earlier this year, Romania said it was expecting to export energy to Turkey as early as 2017, when a 600MW coal-fired plant at the large Rovinari energy complex in southern Romania comes on line.
The €1bn project, which is spearheaded by Romania`s Complexul Energetic Oltenia and its Chinese partner China Huadian Engineering, is set to use adjoining coal reserves from the Rosia, Pinoasa and Rovinari mines (see EDEM 6 February 2013).
When the project was first mooted by Romania`s grid operator Transelectrica, it was designed to include a subsea cable, linking the country`s eastern Dobrogea province to Turkey`s heavily populated Istanbul area. This cable would have had a 400MW capacity and covered a 300-400km distance.
According to the statement released by the Romanian energy ministry on Friday, Romania remains inclined to opt for a subsea cable.
But sources at the Turkish grid operator TEIAS told ICIS earlier this year they were considering an overhead cable through Bulgaria that could have a capacity of up to 1GW and would permit greater flexibility, allowing all three countries to be part of the project.
In an interview with ICIS this week, Guler said integrating regional grids would be beneficial not only to Romania, Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece, but also to countries such as Serbia and Hungary, which have recently transited energy to Turkey via Balkan neighbouring countries.