Towards the completion of his duties, Romania’s Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova commented on the situation related to the Vulcănești – Chisinau power transmission line that is to be built by an Indian company that won the tender contest against a Romanian consortium. The diplomat refused to comment on the resuts of the tender contest, but assured that Romania has intellectual and technical capacities to build power lines. Moreover, he noted that Romania was interested in finishing the construction of the high-voltage power line on time so that Moldova could faster obtain energy independence, IPN reports.
Last November, the Indian company KEC International won the tender contest to build the 400 kV Vulcănești-Chisinau overhead power transmission line. The contest involved ten companies, including the Romanian consortium. The difference between the prices offered by the Indian company and the Romanian consortium was of €30,000 for a contract to the value of €27 million.
“I cannot comment on the results of a tender contest staged with the support of the World Bank. But I can say with certitude that Romania has intellectual capacities, I mean engineers, designers, those who know to build power lines, and also physical capacities, such as factories making insulators, electrical cables, fittings, poles for constructing such a power line. I say this as a former engineer-energetician. During a short period of my life, I even dealt with the building of power lines,” Daniel Ioniță stated in the talk show “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.
The Romanian diplomat noted that Romania is highly interested in Moldova diversifying its electricity sources so as to faster reduce its dependence on the Kuchurgan Power Plant.
“The Romanian consortium that took part in the tender contest is very serious and experienced. I cannot comment on its failure to win the tender contest. The advantages included not only the geographical proximity and the technical expertise offered by Romania, but also our interest in building on time as we consider that only this way the Republic of Moldova can ensure its energy security. Romania has always forcefully pleaded for such an opportunity,” said Daniel Ioniță.
Under the contract, the Indian company has 42 months of the signing of the contract to implement the project. The new high-voltage power line will be 158 km long.
