site.btaRomania Focuses on Becoming Electricity, Natgas Hub

Romania is turning into an important electricity and natural gas hub on the energy market, the country’s Energy Minister, Virgil Popescu, said after an Agreement between the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary on the Strategic Partnership in the field of green energy development and transport was signed Saturday in Bucharest.

The Agreement will provide the financial and technical framework for the implementation of the project of the submarine cable for the transport of electricity from renewable sources between Romania and Azerbaijan, via Georgia and the Black Sea, and, subsequently, for the transport of this energy to Hungary and the rest of Europe, through the European transport system.

The Agreement was signed in the Presence of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who stressed that the project would connect the two shores of the Black Sea and further to the Caspian Sea region, both in terms of digital communication as well as energy, Agerpres reported.

The agreement between the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary on the Strategic Partnership in the field of energy development and transport is a "crucial", "ambitious" document, which will make a serious contribution to strengthening European energy security and will contribute to cooperation in the region, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis added.

The Black Sea Submarine Cable Project is part of the agreements in the energy field between the EU, represented by the EC, and Azerbaijan, also being a flagship project for Georgia, as part of the EU Global Gateway strategy. Its 18-month feasibility study, conducted by Italian consulting company CESI, is under way and should be completed in September 2023, the Adevarul daily reported. Construction of the cable itself should be completed in 2029 at earliest.

The 500 kV submarine cable between Georgia and Romania would be 1,195 km long, including 1,100 km under water and 95 on land, and have a capacity of 1.0 GW, the profit.ro website reported. Preliminary calculations place the total investment at over EUR 2.0 billion.

The cable will also provide transmission to Moldova, Ukraine and the Western Balkans.

A parallel optic cable will also ensure digital connectivity between the EU and Central Asia.

In turn, the submarine cable will be linked with the BRUA corridor on Romanian territory. 

At the signing of the quadrilateral agreement, Popescu said Romania plans to put into operation a green energy transmission cable along the Tuzla – Podisor route and then along the future BRUA pipeline corridor linking Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. BRUA is planned to have a final transport capacity of 4.4 billion cubic meter of natural gas from Azerbaijan per annum.