The shelling by Russia of the power lines that ensure interconnection between Moldova and Ukraine is the gloomiest scenario, said Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu. According to him, if the Republic of Moldova remains without the necessary infrastructure to import electrical energy, mass disconnections will occur all over the country. If Gazprom fully halts the gas supplies, the localities where there are no important social institutions will be temporarily disconnected from the power supply, IPN reports.
The Deputy Premier does not rule out the possibility that localities will be disconnected from the power supply in a move to save electricity. This can happen if Gazprom does not sell gas to Moldova, while the Kuchurgan power plant is unable to produce electricity.
“One of the scenarios is that Gazprom will stop supplying gas to the Republic of Moldova and as a result, MGRES (Kuchurgan power plant, e.n.) will be unable to produce electricity for the right bank. If the energy infrastructure in Ukraine is bombarded and the Ukrainians ban exports, only the domestic market and imports from Romania and the EU will remain. The internal market is under 10%. When the heating season starts, electricity production will grow as Termoelectrica and CET Nord will produce more. But this is anyway not enough. At the moment, we are analyzing the targeted disconnection plan, according to necessities, by avoiding mass disconnections,” Andrei Spînu stated in the program “Black Box” on TV8 channel.
According to the official, there will be chosen the localities where the impact of disconnections will not be great, which do not have important social institutions. The municipalities of Chisinau and Balti could be spared of disconnections. However, if Russia bombards the power lines that ensure connection with Ukraine, the whole country will remain without electricity.
“The mass disconnections are a possible scenario. Twenty localities will be disconnected for an hour and so on in a row. All the localities could be disconnected, except for the larger centers that have hospitals. The shelling by Russia of the power lines that ensure interconnection between the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine is the gloomiest scenario as we will be technically unable to import electricity. In case of such a scenario, Chisinau could also be disconnected by districts, in the suburbs as there will be no other way out,” stated Andrei Spînu.
The minister of infrastructure and regional development noted that Moldova continues having a deficit of 7.8% of electricity. Through the agency of Energocom, the necessary electricity will be purchased from Transelectrica Romania, in accordance with the emergency supply contract.
