Twenty-five schools and nurseries will be heated with biomass. On October 31, there was tested the first biomass boiler that was assembled at a company in Chisinau, with the assistance of engineers from Japan. The boilers are assembled within a project to the value of over US$12 million that is supported by the Government of Japan, IPN reports.

The boilers will be delivered to schools and nurseries next spring. Attending the event, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca said that such projects help improve the living conditions in rural areas. “This grant will lead to enhanced conditions in 25 schools and nurseries of the country. The project contributes to the transformation, modernization and improvement of the conditions for children. By such modern equipment, we can see what renewable energy is and can reduce the dependence on traditional energy resources,” he stated.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vasile Bumacov said all the boilers will be made by the middle of December. The boilers are fully automated. They will be loaded with several sacks of pallets weighing 700 kg each once a week.

“I’m glad that agriculture in Moldova became a source of energy too. The given project will be completed next year with the construction of a pellet making company. The Japanese partners wanted to make sure that the institutions that will heat themselves with biomass will be able to acquire pellets. I hope the Moldovan engineers will learn from the experience of their Japanese colleagues and we will be able to build ourselves boilers for households as well,” stated Vasile Bumacov.

The project “Efficient use of biomass solid fuel”, implemented with the support of Japan, is aimed at promoting biomass heating systems so as to significantly reduce the costs of energy, develop sustainable heating systems and encourage the use of renewable sources of energy. The project is part of the Energy Strategy 2020 that envisions the use of biomass on a larger scale.