Brasov will be the first Romanian municipality to use 100% green energy, starting 2022

The move will include all publicly owned facilities like schools, streetlights, cultural institutions and even the local ski resort

Yesterday, the mayor of Brasov, Allen Coliban, announced that starting 2022, the city will switch 100% of its energy consumption to green sources. This includes all publicly owned facilities, like schools, cultural institutions, street lights and even the local ski resort.

The move came after a deal with local power provider Electrica Furnizare to supply all 525 municipal points of consumption with hydroelectric energy. This will, reportedly, make it the first completely green municipality in Romania.

The green capital of Romania?

According to the new agreement, 37 schools, 29 kindergartens, 8 nurseries, cultural institutions and municipal buildings will all be supplied with green energy. The same goes for the heating plants, multi-story car parks, sports facilities, public lighting, as well as the electricity needed for the local skiing area (artificial snow production systems, pumping systems and etc.).

Despite the switch, according to a statement by the city, the municipal costs of electricity will not go down compared to consumer prices, which will continue to be supplied primarily from congenital sources.

Actually, only around 34% of Electrica Furnizare’s total energy production can be classified as green and sustainable energy. The rest is divided between most notably coal (16%), nuclear (28%), natural gas (20%).

On the other hand, when it comes to green energy sources, hydroelectric takes up the largest portion (25%), followed by wind (5%) and solar (4%). What the agreement essentially does, is it switches municipal consumption from receiving electricity from the general flow to receiving energy exclusively from sustainable sources.

Despite the relatively pro-forma nature of the agreement, supplying 100% of a municipality’s electricity consumption (including a ski resort) with green energy is no small feat. However, local authorities still have a long way to go, as thousands of households would eventually have to have access to sustainable energy as well.

Mayor Coliban declared that Brasov is very committed to becoming Romania’s Green Capital and the attitude local authorities show towards sustainability is very important, as it can convince others to join the cause.