March 15 (SeeNews) - Romania’s Railway Reform Authority (RRA) said it has secured 204 million euro ($222.2 million) in non-reimbursable funding from the EU’s Modernisation Fund to buy new sustainable long-distance rolling stock.
The RRA plans to replace old locomotives with nine interregional long-distance trains and 23 electric locomotives between 2024 and 2027, it said in a social media post on Thursday.
The RRA’s investment proposal aligns with targets outlined in Romania’s Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (INECP) and is aimed at increasing energy efficiency in the transport sector.
The Modernisation Fund is an EU programme aimed at supporting thirteen member states to meet energy targets by modernising energy systems and improving energy efficiency. In 2023, support granted to Romania from the Modernisation Fund totalled 2.169 billion euro, according to a press release published on the fund’s website at the end of last year.
Romania is also the first country to use the Modernisation Fund to finance its 3 billion euro contract-for-difference (CfD) scheme aimed at developing 5 GW of renewable energy capacities.
($=0.9183 euro)