According to market information, the company is supplier for some of the country’s largest consumers, such as Alro Slatina aluminum smelter, Oltchim chemical producer, Azomures chemical fertilizer producer, and the ArcelorMittal Galati steel plant, which have all announced or already cut production.
“The financial crisis is affecting us because there is a reduction in energy consumption and our revenue is dropping, so we must reevaluate our expenditures and everything. We have clients who have told me that they will reduce consumption, but by how much we will know only when they have completed their calculations,” according to a statement for Business Standard by Corneliu Stan, Electrica’s General Manager. He also considers that it is possible for the price of electricity to drop next year, as of February or March.
Company data indicates that the total portfolio of energy delivered is 13 TWh, of which 11 TWh is sold to a captive market, mostly household consumers, at regulated prices and profits. According to some market sources, Electrica is the only supplier for Oltchim and Azomures, whose consumption amounts to some 1.4 TWh per year, who have announced a 20 and 50 percent activity reduction, respectively, due mainly to a drop in demand for chemical fertilizers. ArcelorMittal Galati, which received one third of its 2 TWh of energy from Electrica before the crisis, is forecasting a halving of its production. Alro, the largest consumer of electricity on the local market (to whom Electrica delivered some 15-20 percent of its 3 TWh), will reduce its production next year by some 25 percent.
Stan indicated that it is too soon to correctly evaluate the situation, due to the horizontal effects of major industrial producer stoppages on all categories of consumers. Electrica’s General Manager believes that household consumption will remain unchanged, and could even rise 1-2 percent due to an increase in the number of clients, while that of large and medium-sized consumers could drop 5-10 percent.
