SA Energocom will buy 24 MWh (about 2,250 cubic meters) of natural gas, by 1 MW an hour, on a trial basis from the Greek gas operator DEPA. The gas will be delivered through the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline and transmitted to the gas operator Moldovagaz, IPN reports.

The price is €45 per MWh without shipment and other logistical costs. For comparison, on March 31 Energocom purchased 1 MWh for €48.82 also on a trial basis from the Romanian Commodities Exchange.

“The goal of the acquisition is to see how the logistics chain works: storage of gas in each of the transited countries – Greece, Bulgaria, Romania – nominalizations by the transmission system operators at each entrance and exist point so as to avoid eventual financial risks in case of larger amounts,” the company noted in a press release.

Last week, the acting director of SA Energocom Victor Bânzari signed in Athens a framework cooperation agreement with the DEPA manager, based on which more natural gas can be bought in the future.

The company also purchased 1 MW of electricity for Thursday from the Bulgarian operator Nomad, at the price of €100 without shipment and other procedural costs. This way, Energocom wants to test the new route and the logistics operations. So far Moldova imported electricity from Romania and Ukraine.