The circumstances of the accident that occurred at Termoelectrica are analyzed by two groups of inquiry. It goes to an internal inquiry and an external investigation involving representatives of the Security and Intelligence Services, said Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu. According to him, representatives of the company assured that the fault will be remedied by December 20. The Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development said there is no connection between the requests to increase the electricity charges and the accident at Termoelectrica, IPN reports.
The Deputy Premier noted that the National Agency for Energy Regulation will decide if the requests to increase the electricity charges submitted by the two power distributors are justified. On Friday, Premier Energy, which powers central and southern Moldova, asked a charge of 6.38 lei/kWh, up from 4.77 lei/kWh at present. Furnizarea Energiei Electrice Nord, which serves consumers in the northern districts, sought a charge of 5.68 lei/kWh, up from the current charge of 4.81 lei/kWh. If the charges are raised again, the Government will offer subsidies to the people.
“It’s true that the purchase price of electricity grew in November as we no longer buy electricity from MGRES, but buy it from the market - 65% from the Romanian Commodities Exchange. I don’t know if it is reasonable to increase the charge to over 6 lei. We will for the NAER’s decision and it will be clear then. It is important that these charges will be subsidized. Under the Government decision approved last week, the subsidy will be of 3.7 lei or 3.3 lei, depending on how the NAER decides. Respectively, for the first 75kW of consumed power, with a lot of consumers falling under this category, the charge will be much lower than the regulated price,” Andrei Spînu stated in the program “Ghețu Asks” on TV8 channel.
According to energy experts, the rise in electricity charges is generated by the inability of Termoelectrica to produce electricity following the accident that occurred in one of its blocks shortly after this was repaired by Horus company.
“I don’t think there is a connection here. The purchase price of electricity produced by Termoelectrica is €220 per MW, but we had days when we paid less than €220 on the Romanian Commodities Exchange,” stated Andrei Spînu.
He noted that the accident at Termoelectrica wasn’t communicated to the country’s administration because such incidents take place frequently and the company’s managers considered it is inopportune to inform about this accident.
“I learned about the accident at Termoelectrica from a journalist simultaneously with the Prime Minister. Termoelectrica informed about it with delay. An internal inquiry is now being conducted at Termoelectrica. Furthermore, the Premier signed an order to constitute an external group that during 30 days will probe all the details of this accident. The turbine was taken to pieces. The last time, Termoelectrica said that the generator can be repaired by December 20. The group of inquiry involves representatives of the SIS,” said the official.
