Energy Efficiency

Programme Summary

Why was the programme needed?   Increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption in buildings and various industries are important sources for greenhouse gas emission reductions. Preventing climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions is thus a high priority both for Romania and the EU as a whole. The Romanian energy efficiency programme was implemented through one pre-defined project. With a funding of 8 000 000 euro from the EEA Grants the project sought to improve energy efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of the Emergency Clinic Hospital Prof. Dr. Agrippa Ionescu - based in the town Baloteşti. The Ministry of European Funds in Romania served as the Programme Operator. Although the programme was initially intended to be much broader in scope, various difficulties and delays at the early stage of implementation made it necessary to reduce the programme scope and focus the implementation on more tangible results. The Emergency Clinic Hospital in Balotesti services around 22 000 people annually in the form of medical and administrative staff as well as patients. What did the programme achieve? The modernization works conducted at the hospital ultimately succeeded in: • energy savings for public lighting operation and decreased emissions resulting from electrical energy production – around 300 tCO2/year • reduced costs for consumption of electrical energy – Close to 400 MWh/year • efficiency and optimization of technical-functional lighting system components of energy in the hospital • effective management and reduced electricity consumption • reduced costs for maintenance of the public lighting system and reduced maintenance and operational costs in running the lighting system at the hospital An important aspect of the pre-defined project is the opportunity it presents to similar entities such as hospitals and medical clinics that wish to implement energy efficiency measures, as they can rely on the experience from this project to serve as a guideline. How were bilateral relations strengthened? Moreover, the programme carried out three bilateral initiatives to strengthen the bilateral cooperation between Romania and the Donor States in the field of energy efficiency. The bilateral cooperation has established a basis for cooperation between Romania and Norway public and private entities operating in the area of energy efficiency, energy digitalization, smart cities and climate change, by facilitating the transfer of know-how, identification of best practices and identification of investment priorities for Norwegian companies interested in the Romanian energy efficiency market. For instance, the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca organised knowledge exchanges for research and development between Norwegian and Romanian energy experts. Meanwhile, the Green Energy Association hosted a series of workshops with Norwegian experts from Norsk Energi on solutions to increase energy efficiency in public infrastructure in rural Romania. These workshops, involving local public authorities, local entrepreneurs, university representatives and NGOs, lead to an improvement in information in the energetic efficiency field available to the public and economic sectors. At the same time, the Norwegian experts were given an opportunity to observe local conditions in the bioenergy field and further explore the development of renewable energy usage and energy efficiency in rural areas. The information and datasets derived from the workshops will ensure that future project proposals on renewable energy and energy efficiency are more compatible with the needs of rural communities. Finally, the Ilfov Country Council implemented bilateral activities with the Icelandic partner SOR Iceland GeoSurvey for the exchange of experience in the field of energy efficiency and the development of geothermal potential in the Ilfov and Bihor Counties of Romania. The collaboration resulted in a study on the geothermal potential in the Oradea Metropolitan Area, which will be the basis for future projects for the exploration of the geothermal resources implemented by public institutions in the area. Additionally, the project partners initiated a public policy proposal based both on the transfer of good practices from the Icelandic partner and the optimization suggestions concerning the national legal framework for increasing energy efficiency through geothermal development. This proposal will be further developed through a common project implemented by the Ilfov County Council and the Intercommunity Development Association Oradea Metropolitan Area. What will be the impact of the programme? Although small in scope, the programme has shown positive results that can be transferred to further projects down the road, leading to their multiplication and creating a premise for further investments in efficient energy technologies.