The Republic of Moldova is advancing the introduction of European energy legislation, and the institutional collaboration with Romania is accompanied by the involvement of the companies in the field. Five of them were represented by top quality speakers in Chisinau, on September 25, during the first edition of the series “Regional Approach: Partners in Energy – Global expertise, local opportunities“, organized by energynomics.ro. The event was supported by the National Energy Regulatory Agency in the Republic of Moldova and by the National Energy Regulatory Authority, Romania.

Dumitru Chiriță, ANRE: Energy efficiency and renewable are the priorities

“Today’s event is a very important one for the development of the partnership between the authorities of Romania and those of the Republic of Moldova; tomorrow we will sign a collaboration memorandum that will be the basis for the intensification of the relations between the two Authorities, so that good practices will be promoted and assumed by us, consolidating our traditional relationships”, said Dumitru Chiriță, president of ANRE Romania – ANRE RO..

The Cooperation and Assistance Program between the National Agency for Energy Regulation of the Republic of Moldova and the National Energy Regulatory Authority of Romania was signed on Thursday, September 26. It aims to develop and intensify bilateral cooperation on many levels, in order to share best practices in the regulation of the energy sector, but also in the implementation of European and international standards in the field.

Veaceslav Untila: The Republic of Moldova is getting in line with the European legislation

A member country of the Energy Community, Moldova assumed the transposition into national legislation of the provisions of the 3rd Energy Package of the European Union and, subsequently, to implement its provisions, said Veaceslav Untila, general director of ANRE of the Republic of Moldova – ANRE RM.

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“After the approval, in March and May 2016, of three important laws on electricity and natural gas, as well as on the promotion of renewable energy sources, the European directives were transposed. ANRE RM, together with other authorities, have the responsibility for their correct elaboration and implementation. In September 2017, the Moldovan Parliament adopted the energy law that created the premises of the regulatory authority in accordance with the 3rd European Energy Package”, Untila said.

Alexandru Săndulescu: The Republic of Moldova is on the right track

“The Republic of Moldova is on the right track in terms of transposition of the EU acquis”, stressed Alexandru Săndulescu, High Adviser, EU High Council Mission in the Republic of Moldova. “I am confident that through the new interconnections we will be able to bring more competitors to the market, because, as I said, the market mean more than rules, it also means market participants. Where such mechanisms have been applied, mainly in the European Union, we have found beneficial effects in terms of market prices.”

In his intervention, Alexandru Săndulescu referred to the dependence of the Republic of Moldova on external sources of electricity and natural gas. “About 80% of the necessary electricity comes from abroad, including from Transnistria. As far as natural gas is concerned, 100% of the needs is covered by Gazprom. The problem is not the high degree of dependency, but the small number of sources, because in terms of gas we have only one source, and in terms of electricity we have two sources; at the same time, we depend on a single gas route – through Ukraine. ”This creates certain vulnerabilities for the Republic of Moldova and a low degree of security in energy supply,” emphasized Alexandru Săndulescu.

.Regarding renewable sources, the Republic of Moldova reached its share of 17% of total energy consumption. At present, the share of renewable sources in total gross energy consumption is over 26%, but the high percentage is assured in particular from biomass. The Republic of Moldova has been praised by the officials of the European Union, present in Chisinau, for choosing the auction system in the field of renewables, as well as for adopting the Directive on energy efficiency in its own legislation.

Recently there were also elements of institutional consolidation, namely the merging of the Energy Efficiency Fund with the Energy Efficiency Agency.

“The transposition of 3rd Package in the internal energy market and especially the strengthening of the role and independence of ANRE RM should be underlined. Several laws have been adopted (on electricity, natural gas, energy efficiency). All these laws will be reviewed by mid-next year, and the Energy-Climate Change Package will be partially transposed into national law on this occasion”, he said.

The Agency for Energy Efficiency has carried out over 300 projects

The Agency for Energy Efficiency started operating in 2011. “In 2019, the Agency was reorganized by merging (absorption) with the Energy Efficiency Fund and thus, the rights and obligations of the Energy Efficiency Fund were taken over. The main activity vectors are the financing, implementation and monitoring of projects and, respectively, the implementation and monitoring of policies in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources,” said Dragoș Pidleac, Acting Director, Agency for Energy Efficiency of the Republic of Moldova.

“So far, we have focused on the implementation of over 300 energy efficiency projects, largely buildings insulation initiated by the Energy Efficiency Fund. At the same time, we have been involved in the coordination and implementation of several projects in the field, supported by external partners.

We are running an infrastructure project for electric cars – soon we will have 50 new e-charging stations installed on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. Another ongoing project, in cooperation with the UN for Industrial Development, consists of awarding five finalists in five categories for actions done in the field of energy efficiency with $ 10,000 each – this project will be implemented in three years, with a total financing of 150,000 dollars”.

In the field of promoting efficiency and renewable sources, the Agency organizes two major events annually, one for consumers and the other for financiers and investors, added Pidleac.

Radu Bădiță, ANRE: Digitalization is the future

Prosumers will have a great role in balancing the system, as well as for the comfort of the final consumers, and ANRE RO is ready to support ANRE RM in this area, said Radu Bădiță, the general secretary of ANRE Romania. “I affirm the determination of the Romanian Authority to channel its attention towards digitization. We, as an authority, are already doing it. By this action we want to signal the market and urge all operators to take bolder steps towards digitization – which represents the future from all points of view. As an example, at the beginning of next month, ANRE will sign the contract with an agency within the Ministry of Development to develop a platform that will allow the migration of final consumers between operators – something similar, for example, with the case of mobile operators” said Bădiță. Through the new platform, energy services users will have the opportunity to change their suppliers in merely 72 hours. “It is a step forward in terms of competition and ultimately for getting better prices,” Bădiță added. “The project will be signed at the beginning of the month and will last for two years; we are trying to shorten this period to one year”.

Sirman, ABB: People and companies are increasingly adopting automation

For ABB, the Republic of Moldova represents a rapidly developing market, said Daniel Sirman, Executive Manager of ABB Romania. “In terms of digitization, we envisage its development in the case of our entire range of products, both with partners in Romania and with those from here, in the Republic of Moldova, for the digitization, both of the electric drive segment and of the robotization part. Digitization means, through the partnership that ABB has with Microsoft, that everything can be transmitted in the “cloud”, and the production downtime can be shorter and shorter”, he said.

“Everything we consume has a production component through automation and robotization. This does not replace human work force, but we try to automate society through processes with better profitability and lower energy consumption. As for the collaborative robots, they can work side by side with people, under maximum safety conditions. The automation is expanding beyond the industrial space, thus ABB will develop, together with Texas Medical Center, medical robots for operating rooms in the hospitals of the future”, Sirman said.

L. Bădiță: Photon Energy analyzes entering the of the Republic of Moldova

Photon Energy is a company headquartered in Prague operating in several countries, and could soon open an office in the Republic of Moldova, too, said Lauru Bădiță, Country Manager O&M Romania Photon Energy. “From Prague we operate regionally in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and we have serious intentions also for the Republic of Moldova, as soon as the legislation will allow it, as the auction system would be put at work by ANRE Moldova. We are listed on the Prague and Warsaw stock exchanges. We have over 70 MW in the portfolio, and 250 MW in operating and maintenance. We are continuing the expansion through new photovoltaic parks, both in Europe and in Australia, through new parks of hundreds of MW”, said Bădiță.

“We consider that we bring a real benefit to all participants in the energy market, from the producer to the final beneficiary and we believe in the energy sources based on the sun. We cover the full range of services, from construction to operation and maintenance. We are digitized, through an in-house monitoring software platform, with a dispatch center in Prague through which any defect can be determined and we can quickly resolve any incident. We are confident that the necessary legislation will be implemented as soon as possible in the Republic of Moldova”, concluded Bădiță.

Athanasovici, Kawasaki: We are interested in the Moldovan market

Kawasaki is renowned for its motorcycle division, but it produces a wealth of other things – robots, gas turbines, internal combustion engines for the energy sector, aircraft, and raw material transport ships, said Cristian Athanasovici, Business Development Manager, Kawasaki Gas Turbine Europe.

“Kawasaki has been present in Europe since 2003 through a subsidiary called Kawasaki Gas Turbine Europe, responsible for cogeneration technologies based on gas turbines and internal combustion engines. We are the only manufacturer in the world that produces both these two technologies”, he said.

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Kawasaki Europe opened offices in Romania in 2018, with responsibilities for all of South East Europe. “The equipment and solutions offered by Kawasaki are aimed at all consumers of electricity and heat, be it steam, hot or chilled water, flue gas used directly in the technological processes. We are operating for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which is why Kawasaki equipment is considered green equipment. We also carry out our activity under the auspices of the Energy Efficiency Directive 27/2012. We are here because we are interested in developing the market in the Republic of Moldova, for which we provide all our expertise. From next year, Kawasaki will have a maintenance team in Romania, which is very important to ensure the solutions we can provide”, he concluded.

Transgaz: The reverse flow from Isaccea to Orlavka is operational

Transgaz, through its subsidiary, Eurotransgaz, bought Vestmoldtransgaz, transforming it into a private company, says Marius Stoica, advisor to Transgaz’ general manager, Ion Sterian. He then presented the status of the works for the gas pipeline to link Ungheni and Chișinău. “Our investment in the Republic of Moldova consists of a gas pipeline linking Ungheni to Chisinau. It is a 110 km pipeline. In addition to this gas pipeline, we also have four regulating and measuring stations”, said Marius Stoica.

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At the same time, he announced that Romania has made the reverse flow operation from Isaccea to Orlavka operational, and “this will allow gas to flow from Romania to Ukraine, also allowing the gas supply to the Republic of Moldova”.

The first conference in the series “Regional approach: Partners in Energy – Global expertise, local opportunities“, was organized in Chisinau by energynomics.ro, with the support of our partners: ABB România, Kawasaki Gas Turbine Europe Gmb, Photon Energy, Transelectrica, Transgaz.

Over 80 representatives from ABB România, Academia de Științe a Moldovei – Institutul de Energetică, Access Power, Agenția pentru Eficiență Energetică Chișinău, Ambasada României la Chișinău, AMCHAM, ANRE Moldova, ANRE Romania, Asociația Investitorilor din România în Republica Moldova, Asociația Zero Energy România, AutoExpert Moldova, BERD, CET Nord, CMS, CND SRL, Comitetului Sectorial pentru formare profesională, CSPE, EDSG Moldova, Electra Norte, Electrogrup SA, Elicio NV, Energy Distribution Services – EDS, GasNatural Fenosa, Global Industrial Consult SRL, Industrial Reform Grup S.R.L., Institutul de Energetica al AS Moldova, Kawasaki, Lukamet Staal BV, MABEC Trading SRL, Moldova Gaz, Mondial Prest, OMV Petrom, ONE Supply & Trading SRL, Photon Energy, Primăria Chișinău, Siemens, SMA, Smartlink Communications, Termoelectrica SA, Transgaz, Vestra – Grupul Elsaco, YES Europe, Zwiazek Polakow attended the presentations and participated in discussions.