CEZ 2013 EBITDA from power production, trade in Romania falls 11%

Czech energy group CEZ said on Thursday its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from power production and trading in Romania fell by an annual 11% to 2.3 billion Czech crowns ($115.2 million/84.1 million euro) in 2013.

The result was influenced by a fall in the market price of green certificates, which the company receives for the energy it produces at its wind parks in Romania, coupled with the postponement of the assignment of the second certificate for wind power generation and the suspension of allocation of certificates to its Fantanele Vest wind park since November 2013, CEZ said in a report.

Energy distributors in Romania are required to purchase green certificates for every MWh of power they sell. The certificates are issued to wind, hydro and solar power producers who can sell them directly to distributors or trade them on the state-owned power market. Last year, the Romanian government decided to temporarily suspend as of July 1, 2013, the issuance of some of the green certificates for which hydro, wind and solar energy producers are eligible in a bid to reduce the price of electricity for final consumers

The company's EBITDA from the distribution and sales segment in Romania declined 28% to some 1.8 billion Czech crowns in the period under review, mainly due to extraordinary earnings in 2012 associated with the payment of debts worth 1.2 billion crowns by the Romanian state railways.

The output of the 240 wind turbines at CEZ's Fantanele and Cogealac wind parks in Romania rose 29% on the year to 1.25 terawatt hours last year, in its first calendar year of full operation.

Last year, CEZ completed the upgrade of several small hydropower plants owned by its subsidiary TMK Hydroenergy Power in Romania, raising their installed capacity to 22 megawatts (MW) from 18 MW.

The company has been present in Romania since 2005.

(1 euro = 27.3344 Czech crowns)

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