Romania announces bid to boost photovoltaics by 2030

Romania aims to have over eight gigawatts (GW) in photovoltaic renewable energy production units installed by 2030, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai over the weekend following his country’s accession to the International Solar Alliance.

Dubai is hosting this year’s UN convention on climate change, known as COP28. The key event that assembles heads of state and climate stakeholders started on Saturday and is due to end on Monday.

Romania, too, unveiled its pledges on climate action, announcing it will work towards achieving eight GW in solar energy capacity by 2030, adding that it envisions this capacity contributing to 24% of its gross final electricity consumption from renewable sources.

But to achieve these goals, the president stressed the importance of international cooperation, emphasising the need for collaboration in financing, technology development, and strengthening solar capacity.

”The accession to this Alliance will support Romania in implementing its ambitious solar energy targets included in the National Energy and Climate Plan”, he added, noting the importance of global cooperation on financing, developing technology and upping capacity through alliances like these.

Romania’s strong potential capacity for capturing solar energy was highlighted by Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja, who pointed to the country being classified in European zone B in terms of sunshine and having about 210 sunny days per year.

The studies Burduja cited estimate Romania’s solar technical potential at 19.35 GW (25.80 TWh), with some 18.05 GW (24.18 TWh) deemed economically viable under minimum cost scenarios.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is conceived as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs. It was launched on 30 November 2015 by India and France to implement the Paris Climate Agreement.

(Cătălina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)