Four gas-fired power plants are expected to be commissioned by 2030. Together, they will consume at least 3.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Black Sea production if they are supplied exclusively with gas from the Neptun Deep offshore field. The Mintia power plant alone, located in Hunedoara County, is expected to consume around 2 billion cubic meters of gas per year starting in 2027, or at the latest in 2028.
OMV Petrom and Romgaz estimate that, beginning in 2027, they will extract an average of nearly 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually for a period of 12 years. However, this additional production will have to offset declining output from Romania’s mature gas fields, cover the needs of the Azomureș fertilizer plant should Romgaz complete its planned acquisition, and fulfill already signed export agreements totaling approximately 4 billion cubic meters of gas.
Therefore, even under the most optimistic scenario, Black Sea gas will only be able to supply the new gas-fired power plants for roughly a decade. After that period, Romania may either be forced to scale back some of these investments or seek additional gas supplies from Russia, the United States, or Arab countries.
Romania is undergoing the most significant transformation of its energy system since 1990. As coal-fired power units are gradually phased out, both public authorities and private investors are preparing the construction of gas-fired power plants with a combined capacity exceeding 3,500 MW. In other words, these facilities will convert natural gas into electricity. The strategy resembles the one adopted by Germany, which decided to shut down its nuclear power plants and replace part of their capacity with gas-fired generation. In Germany’s case, a substantial share of the gas came from Russian imports.
In Romania’s case, the optimistic scenario assumes that the gas required for the new power plants will come from the Black Sea. Starting in 2027–2028, OMV Petrom and Romgaz are expected to bring approximately 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year into the market.
Power plants will require 4 billion cubic meters of gas annually
According to consolidated data on energy projects currently under development, Romania is preparing gas-fired power plants with a total installed capacity of approximately 3,830 MW. More than 3,500 MW of this capacity is represented by the major projects at Mintia, Iernut, Ișalnița, and Turceni.
To better understand the scale of these investments, it should be noted that the new gas-fired power plants will require roughly half of the projected annual production from the Neptun Deep field. Based on the capacities announced by investors, they are expected to consume at least 4 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year.
The most significant project is the Mintia power plant, being developed by the Iraqi-owned company Mass Global Energy Rom on the site of the former coal-fired Mintia thermal power station. With a capacity of 1,700 MW, it will become the largest gas-fired power plant located on a single site in the European Union.
To put the project into perspective, under normal operating conditions the Mintia plant could generate more than 11 TWh of electricity annually. By comparison, Romania’s total electricity consumption—including households, businesses, and public institutions—was approximately 50 TWh in 2025. As a result, Mintia alone could supply nearly 20% of the country’s annual electricity demand.
Electricity production at mintia could begin in 2027
According to Mass Global Energy, the investment exceeds €1.2 billion, and the first quantities of electricity are expected to be delivered to Romania’s National Energy System next year. During 2026, only technological tests are scheduled to take place, as recently announced by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
“The project is more than 83% complete and plays a strategic role in Romania’s energy security. It means more energy produced domestically, fewer imports, and a greater ability to cover consumption during difficult periods, especially in winter,” Bolojan wrote on his Facebook page following a visit to the Mintia construction site.
According to the Prime Minister, interconnection tests between the power plant and the electrical substation will begin in the coming months, while the connection works to the national grid are expected to be completed by October.
“Additionally, the gas supply for the new power plant must be secured by August. It is essential that all institutions involved cooperate so that these tests and the subsequent stages can be completed without further delays. Romania needs serious investments in energy, new generation capacities, and modern infrastructure. Without them, we cannot achieve economic competitiveness, stability, and fair prices for citizens,” the Prime Minister added.
Mintia needs 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year – Gas it still does not have
The new Mintia power plant is being developed by Mass Global Energy Rom, a subsidiary of Iraq’s Mass Group Holding, one of the largest private energy producers in the Middle East. Financing is being provided by banks from the United Arab Emirates, which means that public transparency regarding the investment remains limited.
Mass Group, which chose to invest in Mintia, operates several gas-fired power plants in Iraq and acquired the former Mintia Energy Complex in 2022 following the bankruptcy of the Hunedoara Energy Complex.
Estimates based on the efficiency of Siemens Energy turbines and projected utilization rates indicate annual gas consumption of between 2 and 2.5 billion cubic meters. If the plant operates close to full capacity throughout the year, consumption could even exceed 2.7 billion cubic meters annually.
Despite this, Mass Global Energy has not announced the signing of a firm gas supply agreement for the operation of the power plant. According to information obtained by NewsCenter.ro, the company has held preliminary discussions with state-owned gas producer Romgaz as well as with energy trader Nova Power & Gas. So far, however, those discussions have not resulted in a contract.
Nova Power & Gas had previously signed a memorandum with Romania’s national gas transmission operator Transgaz and Greek trader Atlantic-See LNG Trade for the import of up to 2 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, according to Profit.ro. Ultimately, however, the company failed to reach an agreement regarding supplies for the Mintia power plant.
Another option under consideration involves gas marketed by Hungary’s MVM Group. Under this scenario, MVM could become a supplier to Mintia, including gas that may indirectly originate from Hungary’s imports from the Russian Federation. The Hungarian company has a long-term contract with Gazprom valid until 2036, under which Hungary receives approximately 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
MVM also attempted to acquire the Romanian operations of E.ON, although the transaction ultimately failed. Had the acquisition been approved, the Hungarian company would have gained direct access to Romania’s infrastructure and customer portfolio, making it easier to supply natural gas to the Mintia power plant.
Mintia will be a gas-hungry giant: It could consume as much as 25% of Romania’s annual gas consumption
The Mintia power plant’s projected gas demand of up to 2.5 billion cubic meters per year would represent nearly 30% of Romania’s annual natural gas production and approximately 25% of the country’s total gas consumption.
This is because Romania’s entire economy—including households, industry, and public institutions—consumed almost 11 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2025, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics. Of this volume, only around 9 billion cubic meters came from domestic production.
For comparison, Romania’s largest industrial gas consumers to date—the Azomureș fertilizer plant and the industrial complexes operated by Alro Slatina and Liberty Galați—would together require less gas than the amount estimated for the Mintia power plant if all facilities were operating at normal capacity.
In the case of Azomureș, approximately 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas are used annually as feedstock for fertilizer production, while another 100 million cubic meters are needed to generate the electricity and heat required for industrial operations.
Alro Slatina and Liberty Galați, on the other hand, do not use natural gas as a raw material. However, they consume very large amounts of electricity. If all of that electricity were generated by gas-fired power plants, it would require at least 700 million cubic meters of natural gas per year.
The conversion rate shows that producing one terawatt-hour (TWh) of electricity in a gas-fired power plant requires approximately 158–172 million cubic meters of natural gas, according to estimates based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
As a result, Mintia alone could consume at least 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, while Azomureș, Alro, and Liberty Galați, operating at normal capacity, would have a combined gas-equivalent consumption of approximately 1.8 billion cubic meters per year.
The real stake: natural gas demand, not just electricity generation
The real significance of these investments lies not only in the electricity they will produce, but also in their enormous demand for natural gas.
Based on the efficiency of modern combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants, a 1 GW unit consumes approximately 1.45–1.50 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year if it operates continuously at full capacity.
Applying this formula to the projects currently under construction or in development results in a substantial annual gas requirement:
- Mintia (1,700 MW): approximately 2.5 billion cubic meters per year;
- Iernut (430 MW): approximately 625 million cubic meters per year;
- Ișalnița (850 MW): approximately 1.24 billion cubic meters per year;
- Turceni (475 MW): approximately 690 million cubic meters per year.
Together, these four projects could consume more than 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually if they operated continuously at full capacity. If the cogeneration project at Năvodari and the abandoned project in Craiova were also included, the theoretical gas requirement would exceed 5 billion cubic meters per year. However, based on current information, those two projects have only a limited chance of being completed.
In reality, power plants do not operate 8,760 hours per year. At a utilization rate of 60-70%, total gas consumption would fall to approximately 3.5–4 billion cubic meters annually. Even so, this volume would represent nearly half of Romania’s current domestic gas production.
In other words, between 44% and 50% of the annual production expected from the Neptun Deep project could be absorbed by these four energy projects alone.
The post-Neptun Deep challenge: gas imports or nuclear electricity
Given that the offshore project is expected to operate at high output levels for at least 10–12 years, the Mintia power plant alone could consume more than 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas over a decade. This volume would be equivalent to roughly 20–25% of the recoverable reserves estimated for Romania’s offshore Black Sea fields.
After that decade, Romania’s economy should ideally be able to rely on electricity generated from competing sources, including renewable energy projects such as wind and solar, the planned nuclear expansion projects of Nuclearelectrica, or continued electricity generation from gas-fired plants. However, in the latter case, the gas would likely need to be imported.
Energy experts fear that Romania could remain locked into a gas-dependent generation model.
“I do not believe that within the next decade-although a lot can change given the pace of technological progress—Romania will manage to significantly expand its domestic electricity generation resources. Nuclearelectrica does not appear to be moving quickly with Units 3 and 4 at Cernavodă and has prioritized other projects. Investments in renewable energy have effectively stalled, partly because investors are being blocked by administrative procedures and by limitations within the transmission system, which is unable to provide timely grid connections,” one of Romania’s best-known energy experts told us.
If Romania remains heavily dependent on gas-fired power generation, the country could eventually become reliant on imported natural gas to maintain electricity production. Depending on geopolitical developments, including the outcome of the war in Ukraine, those imports could come from Russia, the United States, or Arab countries.
