There are at least seven shortcomings that should be addressed by the law on the promotion of renewable energy sources so as to democratize access to the emerging electrical energy market of Moldova and to the existing electricity system, said Ion Efros, associate energy and environmental policy analyst at the Institute for Public Policy.
In a news conference hosted by IPN, Ion Efros said that the Government over the past five months subjected the bill to amend Law No. 10/2016 on the promotion of renewable energy sources to public consultations. The public interest in this law was aroused by the regional energy crisis of the past two years, by the interest in investments in large commercial projects and by the economic attractiveness of investments in renewable technology systems in the residential and commercials sectors. The law brings a number of innovations, such as new business models that are to turn into a positive model on the electrical energy market of Moldova.
The analyst highlights the lack of a definition of “independent aggregators” in the draft law. The expert underlined that energy producers who will not obtain the status of eligible producer, i.e. will not benefit from state support mechanisms, will be more than happy to offer their excess capacity to an independent aggregator. At the same time, there may be prosumers who will not be satisfied with the aggregation offers of their incumbent suppliers and will look for alternatives in the market such as independent aggregators. Last but not least, the lack of definition of the concept of “independent aggregator” will unintentionally create conditions of monopoly of aggregation services in the benefit of incumbent suppliers in a market that should by definition be competitive.
A proposed amendment refers to the concept of “sovereignty” over the excess of energy intended for self-consumption. In other words, the bill should stipulate an additional point that would clearly stipulate that the consumers have absolute control over the produced electrical energy. In practice, this means that residential prosumers will have more options when they will take a decision about the final use of the energy they produce.
Another suggestion is to extend the list of members (shareholders) of the renewable energy community. The current bill stipulates that the members or shareholders of a renewable energy community can be private individuals, SMEs, villages and towns. Ion Efros suggested that this list should be supplemented with NGOs, energy cooperatives or existing energy communities and commercial banks.
The bill can also define the concept of collective self-consumption of renewable energy. Collective self-consumption means that existing producers of local communities could share the electricity they generate with neighbors on a contract basis, complementing the existing legislation on individual self-consumption, energy communities, electricity suppliers. In Moldova’s case, the main advantage of the application of the concept of self-consumption will be an alternative, more attractive model for producers than the net billing system for recouping the investments in photovoltaic systems, for example.
Another suggestion is to integrate the objectives of the draft law on renewable energy with the environmental objectives, such as conservation of biodiversity, water resources and natural habitats.
Ion Efros also recommended extending the list of energy battery storage operators with independent aggregators. He said the proposed bill, regrettably, limits the right to store electricity at household consumers, cogeneration units and central energy suppliers. This right should be extended to cover independent aggregators.
The last recommendation is to extend tax loans for incipient energy technologies, such as heat pumps and energy storage systems that will facilitate the integration of renewable energies into Moldova’s energy system. This can hasten the implementation of these technologies by consumers and the creation of a local market for producing such technologies in Moldova.
According to Ion Efros, the introduction of these seven elements in the law can contribute to democratizing the energy market and the local energy system so that more consumers benefit from energy transition and this radical transformation system enjoys broad popular support. In other words, the transition should not have only costs, but also wider social benefits.
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