Mihaela Suciu, DEER: “We don’t have enough time and money to invest in distribution networks as we would like”

“I think that we have neither enough time, nor enough money, nor enough staff as we would like to have for the projects we want to implement. Romania’s energy strategy must have an important component – the strategy regarding the transmission and distribution networks. Because we produce green energy for nothing if we don’t have the smart grids that reach the consumer and give us timely information for managing the grids.

We have an annual investment program of 100 million euros at Distribuție Energie Electrică Romania, the largest energy distributor in Romania, but this budget is not enough.

We have money, but not enough as the need to invest in networks is high. Modernization, capacity increase, Smart Grid are just a few types of projects that we are running now,” Mihaela Suciu, general manager of Distributie Energie Electrica Romania (DEER) said during Energy CEO Forum organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“We have signed projects, financing projects on the Modernization Fund of 333 million euros, of which the eligible value is 259 million. In addition, we have our own investment program, and it is still not enough, but we do not have time to modernize the networks at the speed that is demanded of us in the market, at the speed at which the distribution system is transforming.

Right now, we’re talking about intelligent distribution systems that we have to have the ability to manage and have the ability to upgrade to meet expectations.

In the next period, we will implement projects financed by the Modernization Fund and we will have over one million smart meters in DEER.

We have a flexible recruitment policy so that we can attract people to help us develop and implement projects. We strive to identify the best solutions for smart grid management.”