Moldova uses 4-5% of its potential for renewable energy. If this potential was fully developed, the country would be able to replace 20% of the used energy with renewable energy by 2016, said energy security expert Vadim Ceban, who is the author of the study “Development of renewable energy in Moldova: realities, capacities, options, prospects”, made for the Foreign Policy Association (APE).
In a news conference at IPN, Vadim Ceban said that Moldova is about 95% dependent on external sources of energy. “The renewable energy sector is important for ensuring the country’s energy security. We now do not have the necessary secondary legal framework to promote the legislation adopted in this field. The use of renewable sources of energy is reduced. The national objective is to increase the use of renewable energy to 20% by 2020. We have great potential for using biomass, for example. If we use the whole potential, we can easier reach the share of 20% for biomass. If the European partners see the considerable effort made in this respect, I think they will support us more,” stated the expert.
The global trend is to increase the use of renewable sources of energy. In the geopolitical context, it is important to develop this sector. “We must switch over to qualitative consumption of renewable energy. We should consume not only agricultural waste, but also processed waste transformed into pellets and briquettes that have a greater caloric power,” said Vadim Ceban.
The expert believes that the renewable energy will influence the culture of consumption. “The people will save more and will learn not to waste energy. This is what the EU is promoting. Thus, the prices of energy will gradually decrease,” stated the expert.
In the same news conference, APE executive director Victor Chirila said that a lot was done in the area of energy security by promoting the use of renewable sources of energy, especially at legislative level. However, there is yet a lot to be done to use the whole potential in this field.
The study was carried out by the APE with the support of East Europe Foundation, with the financial resources provided by the Government of Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark/DANIDA.
