13 - Getica CCS

Massive EU Funding Within Romania’s Reach For Groundbreaking CO2 Project
06.07.2011 Author: Roxana Petrescu
Carbon dioxide capture and storage are relatively new concepts worldwide, but this is the technology
that will witness a fast-paced growth in the next ten years and will attract over $40 billion globally.
Romania is developing such a project, with experts saying it is in the books for record-breaking EU
funding.
The Getica CCS project (Carbon Capture Storage) has only recently become popular, but its development
started in February 2010, writes Business Magazin weekly.
Now, Getica is among 77 such global investments on a list put together by Global CCS Institute, and it is
believed to have significant chances for massive funding by the European Union.
All the commotion that the project stirred on the market comes in the context where in the past 20
years Romania has never been short on ideas, but in terms of implementation and completed projects,
things have not worked out very well. Lacking new thermal power stations, investments in nuclear
energy, notable hydropower projects, and in the absence of a strategy, Romania has now joined a tough
race with a project that seems avant-garde at the very least. The big players in this project are Romgaz,
the largest local gas producer, state-owned gas transporter Transgaz (TGN.RO), and CEN Turceni, the
largest thermal power producer in the south.
Also involved are the Institute of Energy Studies and Power Engineering (ISPE), GeoEcoMar, the
Economy Ministry and the Government.
The motivation behind this project is Romania's commitment to reduce CO2 emissions and the
European Union's involvement in a tough war of attrition against pollution.
The project targets thermal power producer CE Turceni, one of Romania's greatest polluters. The carbon
dioxide that would normally be released into the atmosphere by CE Turceni, is set to be captured,
transported through Transgaz pipes and buried deep underground in a storage facility. This is a demo
project, so it will not be done without EU funding, considering that it could cost EUR1 billion.
"On May 9 we submitted the literature to the European Investment Bank. In all there were 13 projects
submitted. Seven are from the UK, and the rest come from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and
Poland. After being reviewed by the EIB, the eligible projects will be announced. (...) Only 8 such projects
will receive funding eventually," said Carmencita Constantin, director of the energy and environment
division within the institute.
Here is what drives this project: as of 2013 big polluters will no longer get their emission rights for free,
but will have to buy them. Waivers can be obtained, but in order to do that, Romania needs to submit
investment plans that include concrete sources of funding for each thermal power station it wants to