The most difficult period for the Republic of Moldova from energy viewpoint was passed, said Minister of Energy Victor Parlicov. According to him, the authorities now have the experience necessary to purchase gas from the international market and the right bank of the Nistru is no longer dependent on the gas supplied by Gazprom. Currently, the Government is focusing on gas purchases for the winter period and on the development of energy efficiency programs, IPN reports.
The minister expressed his conviction that the right side of the Nistru got rid of the dependence on Gazprom and the country is now more prepared to cope with eventual energy crises.
“The most difficult period is behind. On the one hand, the price of gas declines and the burden on consumers has decreased as the charges were recently reduced. Also, we now have a rich experience. Earlier, we only learned how to buy gas from other suppliers than Gazprom. Last winter was the first winter we passed without gas from Gazprom. I refer to the right side of the Nistru. Now we already purchase gas from the international market for storing it so that we have gas at an appropriate price in winter,” Victor Parlicov stated in the program “Common Objective” on TVR Moldova channel.
According to the minister, the Republic of Moldova consumes two-three times more energy for heating a square meter of space than the highly developed states. Consequently, the authorities’ priority is to launch energy efficiency programs for public institutions and for citizens’ dwellings.
“Until now, we dealt with the crisis, but in the future we will focus on development projects. About 50% of the energy consumption in the Republic of Moldova is the consumption of buildings and the energy efficiency of buildings is therefore essential. A national energy efficiency program for public buildings is necessary. We also intend to launch a program or a fund for subsidizing investments in the energy efficiency of residential consumers, similar to the Green House of Romania, but which would be also available to multistory buildings and to private houses,” explained Victor Parlicov.
The official said the decarbonization of transport, which is the gradual switchover to electric vehicles, is another priority of the Ministry of Energy.
“We aim to electrify the transport as about 35% of the energy in the Republic of Moldova is consumed by transport. I refer to liquid fuels. The electrification of transport would enable us to reduce emissions. The electric transport would allow us to better integrate the renewable energy into the network and to ensure the consumer’s more active role on the energy market. For example, if you have an electric vehicle in the garage and this is connected to the network, you can use the energy from the vehicle’s battery when the energy is expensive on the market so as not to consume it from the network and pay an exaggerated price,” said the minster.
According to data processed by the Energy Efficiency Agency based on information provided by the Public Services Agency, over 27,000 hybrid and electric vehicles were registered in Moldova in 2018 – 2022, constituting about 3% of all the vehicles registered in Moldova.
