The paper presents the actual situation and the problems the Romanian research in the energy field is confronted with in a period when budget financing has been drastically reduced as to the commitments and the forecasts and the great companies in the energy field have to face major economic difficulties. The paper analyzes the main components of the research-development system of national interest: the national research and development institutes, the higher education institutions, the traditional companies that have RDI activities, the recently established companies with activities in the RDI field. The paper presents some of the results of the Romanian organizations participating in the research programmes financed from national and European funds. The higher education institutions are in the most favorable situation relating to the development of the equipment and apparatus as a result of their participation in the research projects. The dependence of the national institutes on the Nucleus Programmes has increased lately. Many traditional companies that have RDI activities are in a dramatic situation.