Structure and analysis of the mining subsector from the national energy sector in the context of stability and increase of Romanian energy security

Abstract

Until recently, the European Union's energy policy was against coal for pollution reasons, but with the start of the military war between Russia and Ukraine, coal has become one of the energy resources to reconsider. The lack or depletion of oil and natural gas from Russia has made the coal resource the most important source and means to provide energy security. Because there are many coal-fired power stations in Romania (hard coal and lignite), its extraction and recovery becomes a real problem of national security, because it produces electricity, which is vital to Romanian society. The need to analyse the mining subsector, which generates critical mining infrastructure, comes in the context in which the possible occurrence of cases of non-energy supply, or unexpected price increases, generates major issues of national interest, with European and OTAN implications. The aim of the paper is to structure and analyzse the mining subsector within the National Energy Sector in the context of stability and increasing national energy security. The authors consider that the approach of the mining subsector is a strictly national security issue because the lack of coal can cause damage to the power sector and the national economy, which are partly dependent on the mining subsector.