The Republic of Moldova needs to increase its energy interconnections with Romania to increase security of supply, and also needs to create new connections with Ukraine, in order to transit energy from west to east.
“We need to build new interconnections with Romania’s energy system to increase security of supply. We also need to create new connections with Ukraine to create a west-to-east energy transit corridor. The gas market has greater opportunities to become liquid. In a short time there could be a price competition and thus we have the opportunity to bring gas also from suppliers in the west”, said Alexandru Ursu, the director of the Moldova National Energy Regulatory Agency – ANRE-MD, during the “Regional Approach Chișinău” conference organized by Energynomics.
He added that the country is going through a very difficult time because of the war in Ukraine which has drastically affected the energy sector. Moreover, the last year demonstrated that the energy system in Moldova is exposed to many risks. However, with the help of Romanian partners, Chisinau countered certain energy and gas supply risks.
The synchronization of the energy systems of Moldova and Ukraine with the single European ENTSO-E system allowed Moldova to withstand the attacks to which the Ukrainian energy system was subjected during the conflict with Russia. The record prices of 2022 have convinced the Chisinau authorities that it is necessary to diversify energy supply sources and increase market liquidity. “For this, a joint effort of the authorities from the Republic of Moldova and Romania will be needed”, said Ursu.
In the last year, ANRE also adjusted the legislation regarding the settlement of imbalances for participants in the electricity market, imbalances that appear as a result of transactions in the wholesale market, an approach that created “certain animosities” in the market. At the same time, ANRE has taken significant steps to adapt to European legislation, and in the near future a virtual gas trading point will be created.
In the renewable energy sector, ANRE’s priorities aim at the urgent start of tenders that will allow more producers to appear on the market, a necessary measure to create competition and to increase the share of green energy in national consumption. As a result of recent legislative changes, this process will be accelerated.
The conference “Regional Approach Chișinău” was organized by Energynomics with the support of our partners Huawei, Siemens Energy, Transgaz.