Distribuție Energie Electrică Romania (DEER) achieves the investment plan for 2022

Mihaela Suciu, General Director of DEER “99.8% of the investments undertaken by Distribuție Energie Electrică Romania for 2022 have been completed. For the year 2023, the investments are on the chart”. Distribuție Energie Electrică Romania – DEER achieved its investment plans assumed for the year 2022 in a proportion of 99.89%.”

According to the legislation in force, DEER has recovered and completed, until June 30, 2023, the investment works started in the past years, so that the final value of the investment works related to the year 2022 is 558 million lei. The value of the investments made on December 31, 2022 amounts to 463 million lei, which represents a percentage of about 83% of the planned value.

“2022 was a very difficult year, with many challenges and critical situations, the lack of cash flow being one of our biggest problems. The fact that ANRE decided this year to increase distribution tariffs, as required by law, allows us to implement an ambitious investment plan, more than 15% higher than the one in 2022. We succeeded, until the middle of the year, to complete investments started in previous years and to reach a degree of almost 99.9% realization of the plan for the last year. Moreover, we are also on schedule with the investments assumed for this year. If liquidity has created problems for us, we have tried to overcome them by resorting to non-reimbursable funds. We are champions in accessing European money! We are proud that DEER’s efforts to identify financial resources for investment projects have been successful. We have projects co-financed from the European Regional Development Fund through the Large Infrastructure Operational Program (POIM), from the Modernization Fund, from the PNRR. There are hundreds of millions of lei that we are accessing and we are thinking of accessing in the future, our target being at least 300 million euros”, said Ms. Mihaela Rodica Suciu, DEER general director.

The investments ensure the increase in the performance of the electrical distribution network (RED), in the context in which each completed project leads to obtaining at least one of the following benefits: improving service performance indicators, in compliance with legal provisions and contractual provisions, improving the energy efficiency of network by reducing own technological consumption (CPT) and reducing operation and maintenance costs (OPEX).

The investment works carried out last year led to the modernization/development of the categories of electrical installations/equipment that make up RED as follows: – the modernization of 94 electrical substations – the modernization of 196 transformer stations – the modernization/development of 132 km of overhead/underground electric lines of MT – the modernization/development of 449 km overhead/underground low voltage power lines – the replacement of about 150,000 meters – installation of approximately 34,000 smart metering meters. Also, in 2022, resources in the amount of 2.5 million lei were allocated for the modernization of user relations centers, in the computing technique and computer applications dedicated to improving the quality of services in the direct relationship with users, as well as in the provision of equipment and facilities necessary for the safety and security of work for its own staff. Following the investments made, the performance indicators also improved significantly. SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) decreased in all DEER concession areas.

Also, SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency – the index regarding the average frequency of interruptions in the network for a user) has improved. “Even if we still have a lot to work and invest, I must emphasize that, for example, the duration of unplanned interruptions (SAIDI), at the level of the 3 distributions within DEER (North and South Transilvania and North Muntenia) was reduced in 2022, compared of 2021, by 166.77 minutes, i.e. by almost 3 hours!

The number of accidental stops (SAIFI) decreased significantly, DEER being at an average level or even higher than that recorded at the country level, both in urban and rural areas.

“All these improvements of the main indicators, all the performances achieved also in terms of improving the energy efficiency of the network, as well as the reduction of operating costs, were made with the sustained efforts of the DEER team, with commitment and responsibility, because we honor our commitments ”, said Mihaela Rodica Suciu.

DEER, as a distribution operator, has as its main duties the development, upgrading and rehabilitation of the electrical networks in its concession areas, in compliance with the legislation and technical regulations in force, under economic conditions, so as to guarantee the long-term ability to ensure the continuity of the distribution service, its technical quality and to satisfy reasonable requests for connection to the distribution network.

“Our concern is to calibrate our investments very well and to use non-refundable funds, so that we can achieve what we set out to do, but without demanding too much from the users, in order not to increase their bills, considering that, according to the legislation European and national, the investments are recovered through the tariff paid by domestic and non-domestic consumers. Our priorities also refer to digitization, to the implementation of innovative technologies, which represent not only the future, but the strict obligation for the development of distribution networks, especially since, for us, the user and his needs are at the center of attention”, stated Mihaela Rodica Suciu, Director General of DEER.