Complexul Energetic Oltenia aims to become a major electricity player in CEE countries

Complexul Energetic Oltenia has the potential and ambition to consolidate and develop its position of the most important electricity company in Romania and to become a major player in the electricity markets in Central and Eastern Europe through efficient production, but also preparing the transition  towards diversifying its portfolio of power plants.

CE Oltenia operates in 3 counties (Gorj, Dolj, Mehedinti), providing jobs directly for over 13,000 employees and indirectly for over 130,000 employees.

Investments and challenges

One of CE Oltenia’s biggest investment for this year was to reduce NOx emission at all energy branches in Rovinari, Turceni, Isalnita and Craiova II. At Craiova II plant, CEO has invested four million Euro for two new state-of-the-art thermal generation capacities of 50 t/h. As a result, CO2 emissions will be reduced by 40%.

The relocation of the coal deposit from EMC Rosia-Rovinari, inaugurated in September 2019, is one of the priority investments carried out by CE Oltenia in terms of environmental policy and social responsibility of the company.

The biggest challenge for CEO in 2019 was the compliance from the point of view of the acquisition of CO2 certificates related to the electricity production of 2018 – a record year for the price evolution of the certificates that tripled during the year, reaching the highest value in 2008 – 2018.

The profit of CE Oltenia will be significantly influenced by the amount necessary for the acquisition of CO2 certificates, which for the previous year represented the equivalent of over 40% of the company’s turnover, and their price is constantly increasing.

The acquisition of CO2 certificates is not the only problem that CE Oltenia is facing, but also the unblocking of the expropriation procedures for achieving the objectives of national interest and public utility, respectively the opening of work fronts to some careers.

The costs required for environmental compliance, which the company fully respects, strongly affects the performance of CE Oltenia, which receives no subsidies and has the price of selling energy below the market average, compared to the energy from renewable sources that cannot be competitive unless it benefits from massive subsidies (at present, the wind energy benefits from subsidies of about 300 lei / MWh, and the solar one of about 1000 lei / MWh).

Social responsibility

CE Oltenia has shown its support for the professional qualification in the trades specific to the activities of electricity production and lignite extraction. For the period 2019–2022, the company has concluded 5 partnership contracts with educational units and administrative-territorial units from Gorj and Dolj counties, through which it supports 6 classes with 180 students in dual education, which ends with a professional qualification certification exam, the certificate obtained being recognized at the level of the European Union.

Complexul Energetic Oltenia is a 40-year old provider of the National Power System safety, as the wind does not blow continuously, the sun power reduces the water flow and the sun does not shine all the time. Instead, the coal of Complexul Energetic Oltenia is able to provide electricity for Romania for the next 40 years and this is possible based only on the reserves discovered so far.

The overall strategy of the company is a strategy that aims to strengthen its position on power market, in the context that this market denotes a reduced degree of predictability together with a significant decrease of nationwide energy consumption and the emergence of new producers that get a generous help from the state.
The company Strategy was developed after analyzing the external, internal and competitive environment, structured on three strategic levels: corporate strategy, business strategy and operational strategy.

(P)