The National Agency for Energy Regulation found a series of irregularities in the process of connecting renewable power plants to three energy sector operators. These are Premier Energy Distribution, Red-Nord and Moldelectrica, where unannounced inspections were carried out as a result of notices received from the Security and Intelligence Service, IPN reports.
The inspections focused on the procedures for issuing permits for connection to electricity grids for renewable energy producers in 2023-2024 (10 months). One of the violations is the issuance of permits in the absence of the land ownership right. Permits were issued for power plants in the absence of legal documents confirming the right to use or own the land. In some cases, unverified or unregistered lease contracts were accepted.
Also, insufficient areas and non-compliant documents were identified. A number of developers did not have enough land to install the declared capacities and, in some cases, only letters of intent were attached, without legal documents.
Among the irregularities is the unjustified extension of the permits. “There were identified situations when operators extended the period of validity of some of the permits without the holders having complied with the conditions stipulated in the regulations, including without presenting the connection projects,” reads a press release.
The „first come, first served” principle was violated. More specifically, some of the requests were accepted preferentially, ignoring the waiting lists and chronological priorities set by the regulations.
Unjustified changes in the holders of permits were also detected. These are cases in which the connection rights were transferred, contrary to the procedure, to other legal persons, in the form of indirect changes or changes of partners.
The Agency obliged the three operators to correct the procedures for verifying land documents, but also to eliminate any preferential treatment, applying the principles of transparency and equity. The companies are to inform within three months about the taken measures.
The results of the inspections and the adopted decisions will be submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office and the Security and Intelligence Service for further examination.
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