Power distribution system under pressure due to rising number of prosumers (ANRE vice-president)

The increase in the number of prosumers - energy self-supplying and feed-in entities - is putting pressure on the distribution system, given that most prosumers have capacities that by far exceed their own consumption, vice-president of the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) Gabriel Andronache said on Tuesday.

"Let me give you some precise data for us to understand what the impact and the pressure they put on the system mean. At the end of June we had 77,683 prosumers supplying and feeding into the system 973 MW. At the end of July, we had over 84,000 prosumers feeding 1,063 MW into the system, whilst the implementation of the new production capacities under the Environmental Fund Agency's Photovoltaic Green House had not yet even started. Therefore, we expect an even sharper increase in the number of prosumers," Gabriel Andronache told the Plug-in Energy conference organized by the Bursa daily.

The official emphasized that prosumer projects have a very high capacity, exceeding the output of the Cernavoda Unit 1, and their production capacity will soon equal that of both Cernavoda units. According to Andronache, prosumers feed into the grid a very large amount of energy that is not seen by the national energy dispatcher and which puts pressure on distribution and suppliers, because they cannot determine what the real need for energy is at certain times.

"There are many people who hold a technical grid connection approval to consume 12 kWs, but they install 60 kW. This implementation is not based on a solution study, but on a solution sheet which does not establish exactly the impact on the distribution area and creates pressure on the distributors. We are currently preparing to regulate this issue to allow a certain top-up for the installation of a certain production capacity, including the possibility for the owners to purchase an electric car," said the ANRE vice-president.

According to him, the basic concept of prosumer is that of a consumer who produces energy for their own consumption.

"In the meantime, things have turned into a small business and people are doing calculations and checking on the phone to see how much money they have virtually earned, and everyone produces energy at the same time, during the day, increasing the pressure on the system. Our role is to make sure that there is energy in the market in the proper amount and quality, and at an attractive price, to help the economy," Gabriel Andronache concluded.