Bulgaria, Romania Set Stage for Massive Danube Hydro-Energy Projects

Bulgaria and Romania's economy ministers have discussed two large-scale hydro-energy projects on the Danube, whose future realization is said to harbor great economic potential.

Bulgaria's Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism Traicho Traikov was received Monday in Bucharest by his counterpart, Romania's Minister of Economy, Commerce, and Business Environment Ion Ariton.

After Traikov and Ariton's meeting, Bulgaria's Economy Ministry has announced that in September 2011, the governments of Bulgaria and Romania are going to sign a Memorandum for preparations for the realization of the two projects.

The Danube hydro-energy projects in question are between Bulgaria's Nikopol and Romania's Turnu Magurele and Bulgaria's Silistra and Romania's Calarasi.

According to the Bulgarian Economy Ministry, when constructed, these hydro power facilities "will produce a total of over 3 800 GW/h of electricity per year, will improve the transport connections, and the bilateral trade."

Bulgaria and Romania have long mulled joint hydro power cascades on the Danube as well as building more Danube bridges in addition to the existing Danube Bridge 1 at Ruse-Giurgiu and Danube Bridge 2 at Vidin-Calafat, which is still under construction. There have been discussions of combining the future bridges and hydro-power plants.

It is still unclear if the announcement made after Traikov and Ariton's meeting on Monday can be construed as an indication that Bulgaria and Romania will build two more bridges at Nikopol-Turnu Magurele and Silistra-Calarasi.