- The dormitory of Tudor Vladimirescu Technological High School in Șimian, Mehedinți County, was energy rehabilitated to the nZEB standard
- Investment of over EUR 1.5 million
- 5th school to be renovated in the România Eficientă program
26 September 2025. OMV Petrom and Energy Policy Group (EPG) announce the completion of the modernization and energy renovation works carried out through the România Eficientă program at Tudor Vladimirescu Technological High School in Șimian, Mehedinți County. With an investment of over EUR 1.5 million supported by OMV Petrom, the building has reached the nZEB standard – nearly Zero Energy Building.
The high school dormitory in Șimian is the second energy renovated school building inaugurated in 2025, following the inauguration of workshops and laboratories building of the Technological High School in Vernești, Buzău County, completed at the beginning of the year. In total, since the start of the program, 5 school units were renovated.
Christina Verchere, OMV Petrom CEO:
“Energy efficiency is key to a sustainable future, and education plays a vital role in this journey. Through the România Eficientă program, launched in 2019, we invest approximately 15 million euro to modernize schools with low-energy technologies and to support information campaigns. The inauguration of the fifth nZEB-standard unit marks another step forward in building smarter, greener communities.”
Radu Dudău, EPG President and coordinator of the România Eficientă program:
The project in Șimian marks an important milestone for România Eficientă: in 2025 we successfully completed two major deep renovation projects of school buildings in rural areas, now upgraded to the nZEB standard. The dormitory of the Tudor Vladimirescu Technological High School is today a safe, modern, and energy-efficient building, showing that transforming educational infrastructure is possible not only in large urban centers, but also in smaller communities.
Through this investment, we have significantly reduced energy consumption and associated carbon emissions, while creating a healthy and comfortable environment for dozens of students and teachers.”
The building serves as a student dormitory, hosting 60 pupils each school year, supervised by 3 teachers.
Built in the 1970s, with a floor area of 1,100 sqm, the facility faced serious issues prior to renovation: poor thermal insulation, exterior degradation, worn-out joinery, faulty electrical and sanitary installations as well as the complete absence of ventilation and climate control systems.
The project aimed to increase energy performance, solve all these deficiencies, as well as comply with modern safety, health and accessibility standards.
Following the completion of the works, the students housed in the boarding school will benefit from a quality indoor environment, the annual energy consumption of the building decreases by 60%, while reducing carbon emissions by 45%.
The key renovation and modernization works included:
- Thermal insulation of walls with 15 cm basalt mineral wool panels;
- Insulation of the terrace slab with 30 cm extruded polystyrene;
- Installation of energy-efficient PVC windows with triple glazing;
- A new hybrid heating system, combining air-to-water heat pumps with a gas boiler;
- Modernization of the domestic hot water system with three boilers connected to a solar station powered by six solar thermal panels;
- Replacement of sanitary and heating installations;
- Complete refurbishment of the electrical system;
- Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery in the dining hall and classrooms;
- A high-performance LED lighting system;
- Thermal insulation of the basement ceiling with 15 cm polystyrene;
- A photovoltaic system with a total installed capacity of 30 kW.
The Tudor Vladimirescu Technological High School in Șimian is the fifth public education institution in Romania to benefit from an nZEB-standard building through the România Eficientă program, besides Elie Radu Energy Technology High School in Ploiești (Prahova County), Liliești Secondary School in Băicoi (Prahova County), Zig-Zag Kindergarten in Ovidiu (Constanța County) and The Technological High School in Vernești (Buzău County).
About România Eficientă
România Eficientă is a nation-wide private project carried out by Energy Policy Group (EPG) in partnership and with funding from OMV Petrom. The project started in the summer of 2019 and consists of carrying out a national program for the promotion of energy efficiency. România Eficientă aims to support achieving Romania’s targets for 2030 in terms of reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy efficiency, both through information and education campaigns, and by carrying out concrete major renovation projects in public schools in different regions of the country. More details can be found on the website romania-eficienta.ro.
About Energy Policy Group
EPG is an independent, non-profit think tank focused on energy and climate policy in Romania and the European Union. Founded in 2014, EPG operates as a policy research institute primarily financed through competitive grants, philanthropic organisations and, to a limited extent, private sector projects. EPG aims to promote an evidence-based dialogue on how to balance decarbonisation, economic competitiveness and social fairness, engaging decision-makers, industry, and the public.
About OMV Petrom
OMV Petrom is the largest integrated energy producer in Southeastern Europe, with an annual Group hydrocarbon production of approximately 40 million boe in 2024. The Group has a refining capacity of 4.5 million tons annually and operates an 860 MW high-efficiency gas-fired power plant. The Group is present on the oil products retail market in Romania and neighbouring countries through approximately 780 filling stations under two brands – OMV and Petrom.
OMV Petrom is a company in which, as of end-2024, Romanian shareholders hold over 43% of the shares (of which the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Energy, holds 20.7%, and 22.5% are owned by pension funds in Romania, to which are added almost 500,000 individual investors and other Romanian entities). OMV Aktiengesellschaft, one of the largest listed industrial companies in Austria, holds a 51.2% stake in OMV Petrom, and the remaining 5.6% are held by other foreign investors. Of the total shares of OMV Petrom, 28.1% represents the free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
OMV Petrom is one of the largest contributors to the state budget, with around 44 billion euro in taxes and dividends paid between 2005 and 2024. During the same period, the company invested approximately 20 billion euro.
Since 2007, OMV Petrom has included corporate responsibility principles into its business strategy. Between 2007 and 2024, the company has allocated around 190 million euro to develop communities in Romania, focusing on environmental protection, education, health, and local development.
On July 29th, 2020, OMV Petrom announced its support for the recommendations issued by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) regarding risks and opportunities on climate change. OMV Petrom annually reports on the progress made in implementing these recommendations.