Romania risks penalties for methane-intensive hard coal production

Romania faces potential penalties under the EU Methane Regulation as three of its four active underground hard coal mines in the Jiu Valley exceed the EU's methane intensity threshold. Despite reporting zero hard coal production to the EU in 2022, the state-owned Jiu Valley Energy Complex (CEVJ) continued production, with plans to increase output to 2,000 tonnes per day by June 2024. The report highlights that coal mine methane (CMM) emissions added 72% to the climate impact of burning hard coal at the Paroseni power plant in 2022. While methane capture is technically viable, Romania's average degassing efficiency was only 25% in 2019. Furthermore, Romania has failed to implement any Abandoned Mine Methane (AMM) projects across its 173 closed mines, despite such practices being common in Germany and France.

• Three of Romania's four active underground hard coal mines exceed the methane emissions limits established by the EU Methane Regulation.
• The average methane emission intensity of active coal mines in the Jiu Valley was 14.9 tonnes of methane per kilotonne of coal in 2022, nearly threefold the EU limit of 5 tonnes per kilotonne applicable from 2027.
• Methane emissions from the coal mining process significantly increase the climate impact of the Paroseni power plant; in 2022, these emissions added 72% to the plant's total climate impact.
• There is a discrepancy in reporting: Romania reported zero hard coal production to the EU in 2022, while the state-owned CEVJ mines reportedly produced approximately 200,000 tonnes that year.
• Romania's methane capture efficiency is low, averaging 25% in 2019, although increasing this to 50% could raise usable methane from 447 to 1,310 tonnes per year.
• Romania has not implemented any Abandoned Mine Methane (AMM) projects despite having 173 closed underground mines recorded between 1935 and 2019.
• The Romanian government must establish competent authorities and responsible ministries by February 2025 to execute the EU Methane Regulation.

APA

Assan, D. S. (2024). Romania risks penalties for methane-intensive hard coal production. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Romania-risks-penalties-for-methane-intensive-hard-coal-production-3.pdf

Chicago

Assan, Dr Sabina. Romania risks penalties for methane-intensive hard coal production. Ember, 2024. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Romania-risks-penalties-for-methane-intensive-hard-coal-production-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Assan |first1=Dr Sabina |title=Romania risks penalties for methane-intensive hard coal production |publisher=Ember |date=10 October 2024 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Romania-risks-penalties-for-methane-intensive-hard-coal-production-3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{assan2024romania, author = {Assan, Dr Sabina}, title = {{Romania risks penalties for methane-intensive hard coal production}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Romania-risks-penalties-for-methane-intensive-hard-coal-production-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }