BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (September 22, 2004) – The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) awarded a $220,840 grant today to SC Electrocentrale Bucuresti SA (ELCEN) for a feasibility study on a proposed upgrade of the control systems at five of ELCEN’s combined heat and power plants in Bucharest.  The USTDA grant will help ELCEN to modernize and coordinate its heat and power production facilities in Bucharest by introducing new control systems at each plant in conjunction with a centralized company control system.

The USTDA grant was conferred in a signing ceremony at the offices of the Institute for Studies and Power Engineering in Bucharest.  Mr. Jonathan Marks, Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest signed the grant on behalf of the U.S. Government.  Mr. Ion Marcu, General Director, signed on behalf of ELCEN.

ELCEN is an independent state-owned company that supplies about 80 percent of Bucharest’s total heat supply from its five power plants in the city.  In order to continue to operate efficiently and safely, ELCEN has proposed the introduction of new control systems at each plant to manage power production and monitor power offloads.  At present only the Bucuresti Sud plant, which is the largest of ELCEN’s five power plants, has modern control mechanisms in place.  Those mechanisms were installed based on the recommendations made in a USTDA-funded study in 2003.  The USTDA grant awarded today will build on the previous study and determine how ELCEN can implement new control systems at its four remaining Bucharest plants, as well as introduce a centralized control system that will coordinate operations and offloads at all five power plants.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries.  The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, feasibility studies, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment.  USTDA’s strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development.  In carrying out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.