The Republic of Moldova is now better prepared for the heating season than last year. Minister of Energy Victor Parlicov said that sufficient gas reserves for the entire winter were accumulated and a one-year contract for the purchase of electricity at affordable prices was signed, IPN reports.

The official noted that the Ministry of Energy in July designed an action plan for preparing for the 2023-2024 heating season - a document that was approved by the Cabinet in August. The scenarios considered in the document are based on the experience of the energy crisis of the 2022-2023 heating season and the current geopolitical context.

Depending on the possible scenarios, with or without the limitation of the supply of natural gas, measures are foreseen to mitigate risks and ensure the uninterrupted supply of natural gas to customers. Concomitantly, the Government of the Republic of Moldova aims to carry out a number of measures to reduce natural gas consumption in the 2023-2024 heating season.

The plan contains reasonable energy consumption actions and envisions the reconnection of public buildings to district heating systems, operation of thermal power plants based on alternative fuels, use of the gas reserves created by JSC Energocom until the beginning of the cold season.

In the case of Termoelectrica, the largest consumer of natural gas, fuel oil will be used as an alternative fuel in combination with gas where appropriate, but not more than 50% of fuel oil. The combined use of natural gas and fuel oil will be applied depending on the evolution of prices of energy resources, availability of energy resources and impact on consumer vulnerability.