By 2030, Moldova should have a share of renewable energy of approximately 30%. The forecast can only come true if we absorb all the European funds that are directed to the construction of the energy infrastructure in our country. In addition to this fact, the citizens of Moldova, businesses, local and central public administrations need to focus on forming energy communities that would be the basis of the sustainability and development of the sector. The statements belong to Leonid Boaghe, the mayor of Sireți commune, Străseni district, and were made at the public debate “Transformation of the energy sector through European funding. Concrete examples and lessons learned”, organized by IPN.

Leonid Boaghe says that when a town wants to be energy independent and opt for renewable energy, the responsibility of the local public administration is to take care of the current situation in this field. Thus, speaking of the example of Sireți, when it started on this path, the town hall carried out with the help of experts contracted through European projects, a feasibility study, several audit reports to establish the degree of energy management that the locality has. “You try to get energy auditors or energy managers to do this for you. There are municipalities that have the capacity to pay, but there are municipalities that do not have this capacity. And then we have to be in solidarity or apply to the development partners, who always help us. European states, through the projects they run in the Republic of Moldova, allocate not only sources for technical solutions, for thermal insulation or panels, but there are programs and funds that allocate money, depending on how the idea is presented and how well you argue it. We are members of the Convention of Mayors for Energy and here are a number of funds, a number of donors, subsidizing the expenses for these feasibility studies. You can’t join the big European family without these cohesion funds or structural funds”, said the mayor of Sireți.

The commune of Sireți, with a little over 5,800 inhabitants, has several photovoltaic units created with the help of development partners, but also under the European Village programs. “In the last four years we managed to build four photovoltaic centers, their total capacity is 55 KW - 20 KM for street lighting, two 15 KW power plants for kindergartens and another 5 KW power plant, also used for lighting streets. If we do a calculation for the buildings administrated by the town hall, it is a consumption of 200 KW. That is, we would need a photovoltaic park of 200 KW, which would ensure us a zero bill for electricity for all places of consumption”, the mayor of Sireți said.

According to Leonid Boaghe, in this context there are also certain problems related to the maintenance of the photovoltaic panels, and a solution would be the creation of energy efficient communities. “My focus as mayor is now on building a community based on renewable energy to reduce dependence on natural gas, because that has a big impact on the electricity bill, depending on how we partner in such communities based on renewable energy. on renewable energy, including economic agents, the town hall with its subordinate buildings, the post office, the health center. Thus, how many members are in this community, this 1 MW energy is redistributed to all places of consumption, including individual homes”, Boaghe added.

The public debate "Transformation of the energy sector through European funding. Concrete examples and lessons learned" is the second edition of the project "Benefits of the Republic of Moldova's accession to the EU for people, the community and the country", supported by the Soros Moldova Foundation. The content of this debate does not represent the official position of the Soros Moldova Foundation.