The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Electricity Consumption in Romania

The COVID-19 pandemic obliged the Romanian government to take drastic measures to contain the virus. More than this, they imposed the heaviest restrictions in the EU. For more than a month, during the lockdown period, everything stopped: schools and universities had only online classes, national and international flights and gatherings were forbidden, and many restrictions for travel were imposed. This paper analyzes the changes that occurred in electricity consumption linked with economic growth, during the pandemic, in Romania. For a better understanding of the correlations between gross domestic product (GDP) and electricity consumption (EC) in different economic contexts, the period 2008-2020 was divided into three series: the 2008-2012 financial crisis and the post-crisis recovery period, the 2013-2019 period of economic growth, and the Q1-Q3 2020 pandemic period. Using correlation coefficients and regression analysis, the authors found that the GDP decoupled from EC in the first period. The increase in GDP led to an increase in the consumption of electricity and the electricity produced from RESs in the second period. In Q3 2020, the real GDP is different from the calculated GDP, due to the pandemic. In Romania, the electricity consumption decreased within the first nine months of the pandemic due to the economic contraction. The electricity that comes from coal and hydropower plants suffered the biggest decrease. If the electricity that comes from NRESs can be adapted to the economic demands, the quantity of electricity that comes from RESs will be influenced by the climate conditions.