The Civil Society Development Foundation, ProPark, and the OMV Petrom Foundation launch the "Green for the Future" program. The program is dedicated to biodiversity conservation and the responsible development of local communities in protected areas. The OMV Petrom Foundation fully finances the program in the amount of €800,000 in the 2023 edition.
Braşov City Hall is launching a tender for the construction of the largest garage for electric buses in Romania. The investment, carried out from European funds, exceeds RON141 million (€28.2 million), without VAT.
Kaufland becomes the first Zero Waste certified company in Romania. At least 90% of all operational waste has been prevented, reused, recycled, composted, or fermented. The goal is to limit the amount of waste, make waste reuse more efficient, and evaluate the performance of the waste and recyclable materials management system.
OTP Leasing supports green mobility by financing the electric vehicle fleet of e-Mobility Rentals. This financing marks the beginning of a partnership that will support the purchase of 400 electric vehicles for the company's fleet by the end of 2024. e-Mobility Rentals green vehicles are currently used by companies in the food delivery industry and hypermarket chains.
The 100 trolleybuses that Bucharest City Hall bought from Solaris will be delivered in the first quarter of next year. Trolleybuses have a minimum autonomy of 20 km. The operation guarantee will be at least 300,000 km from the date of commissioning or at least 5 years.
Vienna Insurance Group considers sustainability as an important part of its strategic orientation. The insurer established the VIG Family Fund, a fund in which approximately €7 million were collected, which will support in the medium and long term the efforts to help the families of VIG employees in Ukraine who were affected by the war. The company shows that it supports social and ecological causes by investing in businesses such as solar and wind farms, in ecologically sustainable and affordable housing projects, or in eco-mobility.
At least 10,000 photovoltaic systems could be installed every month in Romania, says the Minister of Environment, Water and Forests, Tanczos Barna. In Romania, 3 million houses are registered. According to the minister, the issue of smart meters is a challenge, because it happened that inappropriate meters were ordered.
Complexul Energetic Oltenia announces that it has complied with its compliance obligations and purchased all CO2 certificates for last year's electricity production. The deadline for compliance was April 30.
The report of the Romanian Automobile Manufacturers and Importers Association on car registrations in the first three months of 2023 shows strong new growth in the 100% electric car segment. In the first three months of the year, 36,592 new cars were registered, of which 3,130 are fully electric, 1,269 were plug-in hybrids, 2,981 were "full hybrids", 24,539 powered by gasoline, and 4,673 were diesel.
In 2021, the source that contributed the most to the EU's primary energy production was renewable energy, respectively 41% of the total energy production in the European Union. In the case of Romania, the main sources of energy in 2021 were natural gas (32.3%), renewable energy (26.7%), solid fuels (14.5%), crude oil (14.1%), and nuclear energy (12.5%).
Auchan has set up collection points in the parking lots of its stores or within its premises where customers can recycle three types of packaging: PETs, aluminum cans, and glass bottles. Starting from Tuesday, April 18, customers are encouraged to bring the PET, glass, and aluminum packaging used during the Easter holidays, to the collection-recycling points equipped with automatic machines in 37 Auchan stores. Customers will be rewarded with a voucher worth RON0.5 (€0.1) granted exclusively in the form of a loyalty voucher, for each packaging recycled in its stores until May 31, 2023.
Simtel Team wants to access credits of €100 million for photovoltaic plants with a total capacity of over 100 MWp. The decision will be approved in the General Meeting of Shareholders on April 26.
The EVconnect electric car charging network will exceed the threshold of 500 stations by the end of the year, and by 2025 the network will include at least 3,000 electric car charging stations. Last year, 166,244 charging sessions were registered on the EVconnect network, totaling 2.37 Gwh, which represents a reduction in the CO2 footprint of 1,989 tonnes.
One of UniCredit's priorities in Romania in 2022 is the implementation of the local ESG strategy, as the bank's report shows. Thus, the bank finances businesses in the area of green energy, renewable energy, and energy efficiency, and the green loan with mortgage intended for individuals continued to be one of the requested products.
80% of Romanians are willing to do more for sustainability, and the main barriers are the lack of easy access to information and personal resources, according to a study carried out by the Arctic Foundation in collaboration with Ipsos. 38% say they don't know what to do to be more sustainable, and 34% believe they don't have time to act in this direction.
More than 130,000 saplings will be planted this spring in the Dobroneagu area, announced the Conservation Carpathia Foundation. The ecological restoration of Mount Doboneagu began in 2022, with 350,000 saplings planted here. For the first time, in addition to the traditional planting of saplings, in Dobroneagu, direct sowing with jir seeds will be tested, and drones will be used in hard-to-reach areas.
An EY survey found that experts are much more likely to take concrete action by stepping up investment in sustainability. Nine out of 10 companies (90%) said they plan to increase their investments in sustainability. The survey also identified a key link between effective board sustainability governance and company business performance.
NEPI Rockcastle receives a new green financing of €200 million, for Mega Mall and Promenada Sibiu. The loan proceeds will be used to repay the revolving credit facilities used for the acquisitions of Forum Gdansk and Copernicus Shopping Centre, which were completed in December 2022. Subsequently, the Group's total revolving credit facility capacity will be restored to €620 million.
Kaufland Romania is planting a new forest, equal to the number of employees, in Scorteni (Prahova County). The K-shaped planted forest, inspired by the company's logo, comprises 16,000 saplings of 6 different tree species and covers an area of 4 hectares. Once mature, the Kaufland Forest will also be a recreational forest, where the company and its partners will carry out cultural, social, and environmental activities, thus becoming a space open to the community.
The Minister of European Investments and Projects, Marcel Boloș, together with the Minister of Research, Innovation, and Digitization, Sebastian Burduja, inaugurated the project "From Nano to Macro in Hydrogen Energy - Expansion of the National Center for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells - HyRo 2.0". The project will focus on validating and demonstrating the performance of hydrogen energy technologies, reducing costs, and identifying the most appropriate applications for these technologies.
Poland has announced that its first offshore wind auction will take place in December 2025, aiming to award contracts for up to 4 GW of new capacity. I
EDP, through EDP Renewables, a global leader in the development of renewable energy, has inaugurated the Albina photovoltaic power plant – an important step for the company.
Auchan Romania is expanding its options for collecting beverage containers made of PET, aluminum, and glass marked with the DRS (Deposit Return System) symbol by introducing an innovative system uniquely capable of accepting all three types of packaging in bulk, without requiring prior separation by the consumer.
The European Commission has adopted a new European Ocean Pact, a bold initiative aimed at protecting marine ecosystems while fostering a sustainable blue economy and supporting the well-being of coastal communities.
Cristian Barbu, a pioneer in Romania's renewable energy sector, is returning with a new focus: energy storage.
