Speaker Orban: Gov't attaches great importance to energy investment

Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and national leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Ludovic Orban said on Thursday in Constanta that moving forward, the government will attach special importance to energy investment. "This is a time of major change, I would say almost a revolution in the field of energy. Especially as a result of the 'green deal', of the new European policy, moving forward we will have to make massive investment in the production of new energy capacities and the development of such energy capacities that are environmentally friendly and that allow the production of energy with the most modern technologies, the highest yields, so as to ensure the competitiveness of the Romanian economy. Competitiveness depends to a large extent on how energy is produced, on electricity prices, and given the anticipated medium- and long-term consequences of the green policy at European level, it is obvious that we will have to increase production output significantly and I think we need to invest big in all possible resources," said Orban. He added that under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, approximately 1.5 billion euros is allocated to energy and that there is a modernisation fund that will be used to support investment in the same area. He also mentioned that the Chamber of Deputies recently adopted a nuclear agreement signed with the US strategic partner and voiced hope that the Romanian Senate will adopt this agreement as soon as possible, in order to build reactors 3 and 4 at the Cernavoda nuclear-power plant, and investment he called "vital." "As we are still in Constanta, I am convinced that the Ministry of Energy and the government are involved in seeking the best solutions so that we can start exploiting the natural gas in the Black Sea as soon as possible, in order to use these resources for Romania's economic development," Ludovic Orban added. Speaker Orban and Energy Minister Virgil Popescu on Thursday attended the start of construction works on a cogeneration power plant on the Midia platform in Constanta County. He pointed out that the investment is an important one both at national level and for the locals of Navodari. AGERPRES (RO - author: Loredana Ciobanu, editor: Marius Fratila; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)