Romanian Government adopts legislative amendments facilitating Moldova's access to electricity from this country at lower prices.
The amendments were adopted by the Draft Emergency Decree, which amends Emergency Decree No. 119/2022, providing for the necessary measures to ensure the supply of electricity to Moldova in the context of the continuation of the energy emergency in RM. The amendments are made in response to the consequences of the war in Ukraine on Moldova's energy security. Since the state of emergency declared by the Moldovan Parliament ended at the end of 2023, and the emergency situation in the energy sector persists, the Romanian Government deemed it necessary to clarify and extend the existing legal framework and to amend Article VII1 of Emergency Decision No. 119/2022 amending and supplementing Emergency Government Decision No. 27/2022 on measures applicable to end-users on the electricity and natural gas market in the period from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, as well as amending and supplementing certain energy regulations. In particular, the amendments stipulate that in cases when Moldova cannot meet its national electricity consumption through its own production, electricity producers are obliged to conclude bilateral contracts within the available volumes, except those sold under the procurement mechanism provided for in Annex No. 11 of the Extraordinary Decision No. 27/2022 on measures applicable to end-users on the electricity and natural gas market in the period from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, as well as on amending and supplementing some normative acts in the energy sector. Electricity sold under these conditions must cover exclusively the consumption needs of end-users in Moldova. As noted by the Romanian government, the consequences of the war in Ukraine for the Moldovan energy sector, expressed in the inability to fully cover domestic electricity consumption, generate both risks on the Moldovan electricity market, as well as infrastructure risks and market risks. A serious risk on the electricity market in Moldova is the interruption of electricity supplies from the Moldavskaya GRES (MGRES) in the Transnistrian region, which is the main source of security of electricity supply in Moldova, providing about 75% of electricity demand. The interruption of electricity production at MGRES could be caused either by the cessation of natural gas supplies by Gazprom or by the termination of the contract with Energocom in order to sell energy products on the markets of Ukraine or even Romania, as this enterprise is owned by a private joint stock company with Russian capital. This risk appeared with the abolition of the state of emergency declared by the Moldovan Parliament and the return to the application of market mechanisms, when the Moldovan authorities had no control over decision-making on the sales policy of MGRES. Other identified risks fall into two categories: infrastructure risks, with the occurrence of unpredictable partial or total blackouts on Moldovan territory (risks materialized in partial or total blackouts on November 15 and 23, 2022, as well as on May 30, 2023, following Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure); market risks: suppliers that in the past provided electricity supplies from Ukraine are now no longer available, the only source of imports for Moldova is from Ukraine. Romania exported 523413 MWh of electricity to Moldova between October 2022 and February 2023, representing 2.1% of total production. As noted, the amendments adopted by the Romanian government will facilitate Moldova's access to electricity sold on Romania's wholesale electricity market at capped prices. The need for continued assistance to Moldova is justified by the persistence of the emergency situation in the energy sector, Moldova's increased vulnerability and risks in electricity supply in terms of dependence on MGRES and energy imports. Given that MGRES uses an unreliable source of natural gas, a source that cannot fully provide the necessary electricity production, and imports from Ukraine are unavailable, imports from Romania remain the only solution. // 23.05.2024 - InfoMarket.
