Implementation of largest contract from Energy II Project electric power component goes on

The implementation of the contract with the largest budget from the electric power component of the World Bank Energy II Project continues. The $18 million contract envisions the modernization of the dispatcher and telecommunications systems of IS Moldelectrica so as to quickly collect information from the major components of the energy transportation system, regulate the intersystem power flows, local power plants, power stations, important consumption centers and enable the National Dispatcher Center to analyze and monitor the condition of the system, Info-Prim Neo reports. Using the $25 million offered by the World Bank for the electric power component, IS Moldelectrica last year finished the installation of 585 commercial meters at the borders delimiting the company and its clients and high voltage equipment at three power stations of 330 kV and one station of 110 kV. Besides the WB credit, Moldelectrica used its own resources. The electric power component also envisions the creation of the Energy Efficiency Agency. In 2008, the Ministry of Economy and Trade formulated a project to transform the National Agency for Energy Conservation into the Energy Efficiency Agency, said Vadim Ceban, the head of the Ministry’s structural policy and investment division. The project was submitted to the relevant state institutions and to independent experts for examination. The budget includes 5 million lei for the Energy Efficiency Fund that will be used to finance a number of projects and 1 million lei for the activity of the Energy Efficiency Agency. The heating component of the project aims to improve the availability, quality and efficiency of heating in selected buildings. To date, 39 schools, hospitals and kindergartens, in addition to 37 residential buildings have been able to renovate or install new heating systems. Recently, the Government of Moldova and the World Bank signed an agreement for an additional credit to the Republic of Moldova in the amount of $10 million for the Energy II Project. The additional financing will be directed towards scaling-up funding under the heating component and improving the efficiency of heating services and hot water supply in public institutions in the districts that were not covered by the first stage of the project. The Moldova Energy II project was launched in March 2004 and is to be completed in 2009. Initially, the project had a budget of about $40 million: $35 million – the WB loan ($10 million for the heating component and $25 million for the eclectic power component); $4.33 million offered by the U.S. Government; $0.6 million offered by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, plus the additional credit in the amount of $10 million provided by the WB at the start of 2009.