Hidroelectrica exports power for the Athens Olympics

Romania is currently among the top exporters of electrical power to Greece, which is hosting one of the most important events of this year, the Olympic Games in Athens.

The electrical power producer Hidroelectrica, the only Romanian exporter of electricity, is currently supplying electricity to Greece through the Swiss energy trader Atel, according to market sources.

The Bulgarian electrical power distributor NEK is covering half of Greece’s electricity imports, with the rest being covered through supplies by Romania and Serbia, according to the Bulgarian press agency Novinite.

“At this moment, the only exporter of electrical power is Hidroelectrica, operating through the Swiss company Atel. Exports of electrical power are on the rise during the summer period. Still, Romania is right now importing electricity from Bulgaria through the firms Energy Holding and Grivco,” the above-mentioned sources told Ziarul Financiar.

When contacted by ZF, Hidroelectrica representatives made no comment concerning the issue.

During the first half of the year, Romania exported 1.08 million MWh of electricity to Greece, worth more than 20 million euros. This is equivalent to two thirds of the total exports made during the respective period.

Over the last few years, Greece has become the most important export market for Romanian energy companies, with the value of exports reaching 35 million euros in 2003, and 64 million euros in 2002.

Romania and Bulgaria are the only net exporters in the region of Southeast Europe, while Greece, Serbia, Albania and Turkey suffer power shortfalls within their systems and are unable to meet domestic demand from their own sources, according to experts in the field.

Romania produces about 56 TWh of electricity annually, of which about 3 TWh were exported last year, around 5% of the total amount.

Hidroelectrica is currently the most competitive producer of electricity on the Romanian market due to its low production costs, followed by Nuclearelectrica, operating the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Station.

One year ago, Hidroelectrica halted exports of electrical power due to the heavy drought during the summer months, which generated a crisis within the power sector. The crisis hit the most profitable domestic producers of electricity and affected their financial results.

Thus, in 2003, Hidroelectrica registered losses of 3,622 billion ROL (96.4 million euros) against turnover worth 10,200 billion ROL (272 million euros).
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro