Minister of Environment: Green light for completion of works on the Cerna – Belareca Hydropower Development

The environmental agreement for the completion of works on the Cerna – Belareca Hydropower Development was issued on Tuesday, announced the Minister of Environment, Mircea Fechet.

“Green light for the completion of works on the Cerna – Belareca Hydropower Development, a project that is part of the strategic investment package that puts Romania on the path to energy independence. We have issued the draft environmental agreement for the facility located in the localities of Băile Herculane, Mehadia and Cornereva in Caraş-Severin County, which will lead to the addition of the average energy production capacity by 40.2 GWh/year. Additionally, by accumulating a useful volume of 7.11 million cubic meters in the Cornereva dam, the storage capacity of approximately 4.15 GWh of electricity is ensured,” Fechet wrote in a Facebook post.

He emphasized that the Cerna – Belareca Development is one of the oldest hydropower projects in Romania, with the first works starting 45 years ago, and the investment was stopped in the 1990s, at an 80% completion stage.

“The project has gone through all stages of environmental impact and complies with national legal provisions and European norms, as indicated by all three specialized studies submitted to public consultation, namely the Water Bodies Impact Assessment Study, the Appropriate Assessment Study and the Environmental Impact Report. These studies led to the integration of measures to prevent and reduce environmental impact, including monitoring measures, both for the period of execution of the final works and for the period of operation of the Cerna – Belareca HPP”, the Minister of Environment said.

According to the MEFP, the studies regarding the project were subject to public consultation starting with October 2, 2024, with no requests to organize a public debate being registered, nor any observations regarding the project or the results of the studies developed.

The objective “Cerna – Belareca hydropower development” was provided with two drop stages, one on the Cerna River and the other on the Belareca River, the common point being the Herculane power plant”.

“The investment will be carried out by Hidroelectrica and is added to those already in various phases of execution, through which we capitalize on hydropower resources in the interest of Romanians, consolidate Romania’s energy security and ensure that we keep electricity bills under control,” Fechet also wrote on the social media page.