The Moldovan Parliament has passed in the second reading a draft new Electricity Law to implement the EU's Fourth Energy Package
According to the Ministry of Energy, the document aims to stimulate competition, launch the electricity market, and connect it to the EU market. The implementation of the new law will create the conditions for a functional, transparent, and fair energy market for the benefit of all citizens and economic entities. The purpose of this law is to harmonize national legislation with European standards and ensure the integration of the national electricity market with the EU market. The new version of the Electricity Law transposes the EU's Fourth Energy Package, also known as the Electricity Integration Package, part of the Clean Energy Package, which is a commitment of Moldova as a contracting party to the Energy Community Treaty, which will allow for closer integration of Moldova's electricity market into the European market. The draft law also contains a number of specific objectives aimed at supporting the development of energy infrastructure and stimulating competition in the electricity market. In particular, the main provisions of the new law provide for the introduction of licensing for new types of activities - energy storage, electricity trading, and electricity aggregation. The new law will also establish general principles for the functioning of electricity markets, including wholesale electricity markets (bilateral contract market, forward markets, day-ahead and intraday markets, balancing market). It also provides for the promotion of new business models in the electricity sector through the development of infrastructure for charging electric vehicles. No license to supply electricity will be required to carry out this activity. Other provisions of the legislative initiative concern the expansion of the powers of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (NAER) in the context of electricity crisis management. Thus, the NAER will monitor how license holders comply with the decisions of the Emergency Situations Commission. Sanctions will be imposed in the event of violations. The draft law also contains provisions aimed at strengthening the role of consumers and protecting their rights as participants in the electricity market, including through the introduction of the concept of active consumers, incentives for self-consumption, and the creation of energy communities of citizens, which will facilitate the transition to a decentralized model of consumption and production. It provides for the promotion of smart energy metering and management technologies, including electricity price comparison tools to make it easier for end users to identify the best offers, and establishes an obligation to ensure that by the end of 2026, the technical process of switching suppliers takes no more than 24 hours. According to the Ministry of Energy, the draft new Electricity Law fully harmonizes the national legislative framework with EU legislation, opening up the national energy system to competition, innovation, and regional cooperation. The law will enter into force on the date of its publication in Monitorul Oficial (the Official Journal of Moldova). // 27.06.2025 — InfoMarket.
