Moldova

Country Profile

(.pdf file - 176 kB)

1. Overview

2. Policy and Incentives

3. Wind

4. Biomass

5. Solar

6. Geothermal

7. Hydroelectric

8. Links

9. References

10. Country Contacts

Moldova has seen significant difficulties since it received independence in the early1990’s. The GDP has consistently shrunk throughout the 1990’s while inflation reached an annual rate of over 1,000% for a period. Additionally, political conflicts have caused serious problems to the energy sector and the government.

Electricity generation is made up with a majority of thermal (coal and gas) plants with the balance in CHP plants providing district heating, and a small amount of hydroelectric generation. The generation assets are in serious need of rehabilitation and modernization as they have deteriorated over the past decade. The problem has been exacerbated from unpaid consumer electric bills for electricity and district heating. Most consumers cannot afford to pay for normal energy services.

Moldova is dependent on imported energy resources from the Russian Federation, Ukraine (gas, coal, oil) and Romania (electric energy). Moldova is a net importer of energy, with less than 5 percent of primary energy demand covered by domestic sources. Hence, the use of renewable energy is very interesting and highly prioritized

The majority of the population of 4.3 million lives in rural communities, where living conditions are especially difficult in the cold winter months. Traditionally, coal and wood are used as a heating fuel in rural areas. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the price of fuels, including coal, increased dramatically. Total annual coal consumption dropped in the following decade, from 2,500,000 to 50,000 tons, an indication of latent demand. Coal supplies to fuel heating systems in public buildings, especially in rural communities, were severely cut-back, often resulting in the closure of public buildings in the winter period. District heating plants stopped operating except in the biggest cities.

In 1997, Moldova began restructuring and privatization of its power sector. The state-owned electric utility Moldenergo was separated into 16 autonomous units performing separate functions in power generation, transmission, or distribution. These units still remained in government hands after the restructuring.

In April 2001, the Moldova government passed laws to permit utilities to cut service to non-paying customers; the non-payment problem has been a contributing factor in the poor financial condition of Moldova's utilities. Another contributing factor has been the government-set tariffs at below cost-recovery levels.

The potential for renewable energy sources in Moldova has not been realized. It is estimated that renewable energy resource potential should account for 5-6 percent of the total energy production in 2010.    

Moldova Country Summary Table

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Moldova's energy policy is controlled by four organizations; the Ministry of Economy and Reforms, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry for Territorial Development, Construction and Communal Government, and the National Energy Council. The Ministry of Energy coordinates the energy sector and includes Moldelectrica, Moldovagas, the State Fuel Association, the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), and the National Agency for Energy Conservation. The Ministry for Territorial Development, Construction and Communal Government supervises the thermal energy sector, while National Energy Council (a self-financed non-governmental organization) advises the Moldovan government on energy and energy efficiency policies.

ANRE was established in December 1998 for the purpose of regulating the electricity, natural gas, and district heating sub-sectors, and also to promote competition in the energy markets. ANRE oversees energy tariffs, and its Tariff Calculation Methodology (TCM) was adopted in June 1999, using a cost-plus system.

In addition, there is a National Agency for Energy Conservation and also a new Association of Energy Consumers in Moldova, which represents consumers of electricity, especially industrial firms, in the regulatory process. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is assisting this new association in its development.

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Wind energy is not well developed in Moldova.  No industry association was identified. There are some manufacturers for small units used for heating.

In order to achieve Moldova’s wind energy objectives it is necessary to assess the wind energy potential of the entire territory through the development of up maps.  A country wide wind-atlas is available, which indicates wind speeds of 4-5 m/s at 30 m height in 3 areas. According to this map the wind power resources of Moldova are poor as a whole. Wind regimes in the country are dictated by the local topography (watersheds, slopes, valleys). The wind power potential is available only in the open territories where unfavorable landscape impact is minimum. Upon the slopes and in valleys the wind velocities are low. As a whole only about 10% of the territory may be used in the country for wind power development.

In contrast to above statement, the Romanian wind atlas indicates wind speeds ranging from 4.5 – 10 m/s at 50 m height and depending on the topography in the areas bordering to Moldova (South and southeast of Moldova).  Under these circumstances we would rate the technical wind energy resource potential of Moldova as very good. But this must be documented by country wide state of the art wind measurements. Preliminary assessment would guess the south and southeast of the country most promising areas for wind development.

Wind Atlas of Moldova

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While there is some experience with small scale rural biomass applications in Moldova, there is no experience of larger scale or more efficient use.  The main generators of biomass suitable for energy purposes are forestry, agriculture, food industry and housing services. Forms of freely available heating fuel are currently used for heating, including sunflower stems, shelled maize cobs, maize stalks, and other agricultural wastes supplementing coal and wood for domestic fires and stoves (1-5KWth range). Biomass is used inefficiently due to simple and outdated technologies – domestic fires and stoves with an efficiency rating estimated not to exceed 50 percent. Some biomass materials are unused, as they are not available in a form that can be used with existing technologies.

Efficient use of the existing potential and increasing the forest surface two times by the year 2010 would insure Moldova’s rural population with 100 percent of energy resources. By 2010 the quantity of substituted fossil fuel could equal 117 thousand toe per year.

Moldova has sufficient biomass resource to provide significant generation if utilized.  As biomass begins to be used more efficiently in communal applications, experience should allow for large scale implementation, in the range of 5 MWth and greater.  There is good potential for biomass to be included in social infrastructure and energy system development programs in Moldova. There is also developing cross-border cooperation, especially with the Ukraine

Moldova Biomass Resource Data

Biomass resource type	Total production	Production density
Percent of total land area covered by
Forests	3%
Shrublands, savanna, and grasslands	0%
Cropland and crop/natural vegetation mosaic	93%
Urban and built-up areas	3%
Sparse or barren vegetation; snow and ice	0%
Wetlands and water bodies	1%
Primary crop production, tonne	(avg. 1999-2001, tonne)	(tonne /1000 Ha)
Total primary crops (rank among COO)	8,514,487  (15)	2,587  (7)
Top 10 primary crops
Grasses (misc), Forage & Silage	2,575,000	782
Sugar Beets	1,315,604	400
Maize	1,018,898	310
Wheat	850,142	258
Grapes	528,336	161
Potatoes	365,563	111
Maize for Forage & Silage	299,480	91
Sunflower Seed	282,817	86
Barley	201,053	61
Vegetables and Roots, Fodder	199,693	61
Animal units, number	(number)	(number / 1000 Ha)
Cattle	434,000	132
Poultry	13,650,000	4,148
Pigs	755,950	230
Equivalent animal units	872,880	265
Annual roundwood production	(1996-98, 000 m3)	(m3 / Ha)
Total	397	120.6
Fuel	346	105.1
Industrial	51	15.5
Wood-based panels	10	3.0
	(1996-98, 000 metric tons)	(metric tons / Ha)
Paper and paperboard	NA	NA
Recovered paper	NA	NA

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In spite of absence of own traditional energy resources and the vital necessity of using alternative energy sources in Moldova, solar energy has no noticeable usage. 

The first stage of solar energy use in Moldava will have the following priorities: 

·          Heating of water using solar collectors

·          Drying fruit, vegetables and medicinal plants

·          Photovoltaic conversion for pumping water and for electric energy supply of small consumers

Installation is estimated to be approximatley 102,000 m² of solar collectors designed to heat water, about 60,000 m² for drying agricultural produce, and over 5000 m² of photovoltaic systems with the installed power of 300 kW.

In this field, it is necessary to continue research and development concerning the production of photovoltaic cells and the manufacture of compatible equipment.

The measurements of solar radiation were carried out in Moldova only at one point; Kishinev, the country’s capital. The data on monthly and annual solar radiation were averaged over the observation period of many years are presented in tables below. 

Monthly and annual total solar radiation incident on horizontal surface, MJ/m²

Location	Kishinev
Jan	126
Feb	166
Mar	303
Apr	460
May	607
Jun	692
Jul	685
Aug	598
Sep	440
Oct	281
Nov	117
Dec	92
Yearly	4567

Monthly and annual direct solar radiation incident on surface normal to sunlight beams, MJ/m²

Location	Kishinev
Jan