Strategy on renewable energy sources in Romania

The key to successful development of renewable energies in Romania requires a combination of political commitment and decision making as well as support mechanism including well defined government targets, technological advances and public acceptance. Overall short, medium and long term targets and required funding are recommended while expected benefits are estimated. Public funds in the form of grants and subsidies to promote and support RES constitute one of the best investments in the national economy. Commercial investments in RES will contribute to the country's balance of payments as well as towards the environmental protection. Therefore these actions may be supported through a special fund, in particular designed for RES and energy conservation investments. As a first step towards the commercialization of RES a short term action plan needs to be implemented for achieving the set forth long term objectives. This plan includes promising projects for the demonstration of technologically and economically viable applications in each RES sector as well as institutional and other soft measures .The RES promotional policy measures have to be translated into concrete legislation providing the necessary framework into which the sector will operate with transparency and open competitiveness. One of the key policies for RES strategy is to organize a flexible and efficient scheme for the implementation of the policy adopted by the government. The total rural population, together with the urban population living in medium sized towns will be considered as the primary market segment for RES applications (about 61 % of total population). (author). 1 fig., 2 tabs., 18 refs