Moldova and Romania will implement projects to interconnect their national gas and electricity transmission networks.
The Energy Ministry said that this was said during the 12th meeting of the Moldovan-Romanian intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation, held in Bucharest on April 8-9, which, among other things, reviewed the implementation of Moldovan-Romanian strategic energy projects. The Energy Ministry's state secretary, Constantin Borosan, said that the intensive bilateral agenda is also confirmed by the agreements signed in the last 2 years, such as the Memorandum of Agreement in the energy security field, the Memorandum on the implementation of energy interconnection projects and the Memorandum on the future production of clean and safe energy at nuclear power plants. Constantin Borosan expressed gratitude for the support granted to Moldovan citizens in overcoming the energy crises faced by our country in autumn 2021 and 2022 in the form of electricity supplies at a reduced price, humanitarian fuel oil supplies and stabilization of the national energy system through its synchronization with ENTSO-E. "Synchronization and interconnection with Romania provides security and predictability - a vital element for business development. Already today, companies from Moldova and Romania carry out trade exchange, import/export of electricity. In the renewable energy sector, there is a huge potential for bilateral cooperation in the context of the agenda of decarbonization and electrification of the electricity consumption sectors," Constantin Borosan said. He recalled that the natural gas trading platform organized by the Romanian Commodity Exchange through its company in Chisinau, BRM EAST ENERGY, has already started operating in Moldova, and the first auction organized by CET-Nord to buy gas is due to take place this week. "At the same time, the OPCOM branch has obtained a license from ANRE Moldova and we aim to start electricity operations this year, which means new opportunities for the business environment, for electricity producers and suppliers, transparent and affordable price for household and industrial consumers," the State Secretary of the Energy Ministry said. At the meeting, the sides stressed the paramount importance of the projects on interconnection of the Moldovan and Romanian energy systems in achieving the goal of consolidating the energy security in the Eastern European area by diversifying the sources and transport routes, declared their intention to continue cooperation in order to implement projects on the interconnection of the two countries' national natural gas and electricity transmission networks, as well as complementary projects, to take steps to recognize those projects as projects of national importance. At the same time, the representatives of Moldova and Romania confirmed the priority status of the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline, its extension through the construction of the "Chisinau Belt" gas transmission pipeline, which plays a decisive role in ensuring the diversification of the supply routes, as well as the implementation of additional works on the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau interconnection, which will ensure the flow and pressure regimes for the transportation of natural gas in both directions, and the possibility of increasing the transmission capacity will be analyzed accordingly. These objectives will be achieved by the end of 2031. // 10.04.2024 - InfoMarket.
