Romania’s Court of Accounts says Hidroelectrica abandoned work on six hydropower plants where the state had already invested more than 1.3 billion lei, while abandonment studies estimated for 2027–2029 would cost nearly another billion lei (999,752,275 lei), ActiveNews reports from the follow-up audit.

The largest cited loss is the Jiu River scheme on the Livezeni–Bumbești stretch: 741.3 million lei invested, 88% complete. Work begun in 2004 was halted after courts annulled construction permits from 2012 (Gorj County Council) and 2016 (Hunedoara County Council) following environmental NGO lawsuits. The project was government-approved in 2003; last receptions were in 2017.

On the Siret Cosmești–Movileni scheme, work-in-progress exceeds 127 million lei (Movileni ~95%, Cosmești ~15%); last receptions in September 2015, abandonment decided in 2018. Hidroelectrica’s AGM approved a feasibility study to close the investment title, but the Energy Ministry’s Technical-Economic Council did not endorse it. For other schemes proposed for abandonment, the report notes missing government decisions and ministry abstentions or non-endorsements.

Hidroelectrica cited weak profitability, outdated technical solutions, staffing cuts, environmental issues, land, contractors and legislation. The Court nonetheless found that the measure requiring analysis of the fiscal reasons and implications of abandonment had not been implemented.

Image: Vidraru Dam (Wikimedia Commons).

Sources consulted: How much Romania lost after abandoning hydropower plants - ActiveNews.