Romanians spent, on average, almost six hours (350 minutes) without electricity last year due to power outages or work being performed on the power network. This is two times longer than the duration of power outages in advanced European countries, according to the yearly performance report released by the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE).
The national average is based on the SAIDI Index. The SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) measures the average length of blackouts per user and is calculated by dividing the total length of long outages (longer than 3 minutes) by the total number of users.
At a national level, Romanians suffered 350 minutes, almost 6 hours, of blackouts in 2019; this number includes both scheduled and unscheduled electricity cuts. The duration of the planned interruptions last year was, on average, 171 minutes for each user, while the unplanned interruptions lasted 179 minutes/consumer, ANRE informed.
ANRE also points out that the value of scheduled blackouts varies at each operator. The best operator in this case, with the lowest value, is E-Distribution Muntenia (55.34 minutes planned electricity cuts a year), while the worst is Delgaz Grid, with a national average of 171.09 minutes of blackouts a year, surpassing the values registered in advanced European countries — 40-150 minutes a year.
For unscheduled power cuts, the numbers vary from 142.8 minutes per year (registered by E-Distribution Muntenia) to 227.4 minutes per year (E-Distribution Banat); these surpass Western European values of 20-100 minutes of unplanned power cuts each year. The best operator, E-Distribution Muntenia, is followed by E-Distribution Dobrogea (147 minutes), and SDEE Transylvania Nord (179 minutes); among the last ones are Energy Distribution Oltenia, with 204 minutes of unplanned blackouts per consumer and Delgaz Grid (188 minutes).
Romania has a total of 9.5 million electricity users, of which 5.2 million are based in urban areas and 4.3 million in rural areas.
Title image: ANRE.ro
