Moldova expects over 60% of its electricity from Romania in January
<p>Moldova will import from Romania some 62% of the electricity it needs in January for the territory controlled by the constitutional authorities (not including separatist region Transnistria), and the imports’ instant share will drop towards 50% only during night hours when the consumption decreases, according to the&nbsp;<u><a href="https://romania-insider.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2f0cf98c5bbb903b9c07ffa45&amp;id=c45a110fa8&amp;e=607bd7d763" target="_blank">projections</a></u> drafted by the state energy trader Energocom.</p>

<p>The authorities in Transnistria estimate that their coal reserves can cover some 50 days of electricity consumption – but the period might be shortened if the households choose to use electricity for heating after the district heating and hot water were discontinued as of January 1.</p>

<p>Gazprom discontinued its natural gas supplies to Moldova as of January 1. Energocom already lowered to 40% in December its reliance on the electricity provided by Transnistria’s power plant MoldGRES based on the natural gas supplied by Gazprom. The 40% share will be covered by purchases on Romania’s electricity market (mainly from the day-ahead market).</p>

<p>The imports from Romania depend on the commercial capacity allocated at the border, Energocom points out. But it’s more than this: the imports will depend on the technical capacity of the interconnectors, currently just over 315 MW compared to over 700 MW instant consumption in Moldova during peak hours.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Until January 8, after Christmas (celebrated in Moldova under the Eastern Orthodox calendar), the consumption will remain moderate – but afterwards, it is reasonable to expect power delivery restrictions in the industrial sector.</p>

<p>The average price of electricity in Moldova will predictably increase as a significant part of the acquisitions from Romania will be operated on the day-ahead market. Most of the imports, 39% of total consumption, will be operated on Romania’s market OPCOM. Energocom discloses that 16.3% of the consumption will be secured by Nuclearelectrica (band electricity delivered at a rate of 100 MW), and another 6.7% will be delivered under other bilateral contracts (with OMV Petrom’s Brazi gas-fired power plant, energy delivered at a rate of 100 MW during 16 hours per day and at a lower rate during the rest of the time).</p>

<p>Moldova estimates that the renewable energy installations will contribute 10.1% of the electricity needed by domestic consumers in January – with a note on the intermittent nature of deliveries from such installations.</p>

<p><em>(Photo: <a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Nataliia Babinska/ Dreamstime</a>)</em></p>

<p><em>iulian@romania-insider.com</em></p>