Electrica Furnizarea-EDP Renewables EUR 50 mln green certificates deal sparks controversy

The recent acquisition of green certificates by Electrica Furnizare, the electricity supply arm of the energy company, from Spanish EDP Renewables continues to raise suspicions in Romania.

According to a report of the board of administration at Electrica Furnizare, which was seen by journalists at HotNews.ro, the whole deal could have been based on a prior agreement, which is illegal.

“There is a reasonable suspicion that the transactions were determined by a prior understanding and carried out later on the green certificates market of OPCOM, which is illegal,” according to the report, cited by HotNews.ro.

Electrica Furnizare has acquired 1.6 million green certificates in several transactions that were carried out between April and May for RON 132,40/certificate. The certificates were bought from several companies controlled by EDP Renewables. The whole deal is worth around EUR 50 million.

The transaction raised suspicions because at present the whole green certificates market is practically frozen due to low demand and due to the fact that it extends through to 2019.

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The report further reveled the fact that several members of the same families hold key positions at the helm of Electrica Furnizare.

“On the market, there are debates regarding the ethical aspects of these transactions, due to the unusual volume, the delivery period (until 2019) and the way in which Electrica Furnizare has selected its partners for the trading of green certificates, answering to sale offers from EDP Renewables group, instead of launching offers for the acquisition for all producers on the market,” said the report of the board of administrators.

The board of Electrica Furnizare has commissioned an audit to find out more about this deal.

Energy state secretary Cristian Busu said that the Ministry of Energy has ordered two investigations at Electrica Furnizare. Until now, the government did not say what it found during the controls.

The main shareholder of Electrica Furnizare is Electrica with  a 78 percent stake, while Fondul Proprietatea has 22 percent. Electrica is a public company, in which the Ministry of Energy holds a 48.7 percent stake.

Ovidiu Posirca