Construind motorul economiei socialiste. Electrificarea planificată a României (1965-1975)
Building the socialist economy’s motor. The planned electrification of Romania during 1965-1975

Summary/Abstract: This article describes one of Romanian Communist Party’s most ambitious programs of infrastructure development along with its implementation in the context of a command economy. Being demanded both ideologically and economically, the value of the electric power as a symbol became greater with Romania’s communist leadership pursuing the industrial development of the country and trying to secure its energetic independence. Through large amounts of expensive investments, between 1965-1975 Romania’s annual electric power production had increased threefold in ten years, although the power potential had never reached plan targets. However great this achievement was, renewable sources of energy continued to play a small part and electric power management vulnerabilities were far from being removed. Archival research shows who among the political leaders were involved in the planning and carrying out of energy policies during an era of sustained macro-economic growth and how these infrastructure gains made possible the expansion of less efficient industries.

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