The Moldovan government approved amendments to the Law on Promotion of Energy from Renewable Sources, designed to make investments in this area more streamlined and fair.
According to the Energy Ministry, in particular, the amendments are designed to address critical problems that hinder the development of the renewable energy sector, both in the electricity component, the use of renewable energy in transportation, and the development of the heating and cooling sector. One of the innovations of the legislative initiative is the transition from net metering to net billing. The trend in recent months shows that there is a strong interest in PV installations, an investment that pays back the fastest compared to other technologies, and at current prices it pays back twice as fast as before the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine. At the same time, many consumers have an excess of installed capacity, which should have been equal to the consumption of a home or office, compared to a period of 1 year. Otherwise, they deprive other consumers of the opportunity to produce green energy for their own consumption. The purpose of this government support mechanism is not to make a profit by surrendering surplus energy to the grid, but to cover their own consumption. In fact, in the case of business, there are other support mechanisms such as fixed rate and fixed price. As the Ministry of Energy notes, the interventions in the legislation are also dictated by Moldova's atypical consumption, predominantly by households and with a low share of industry, which generates load peaks in the morning and evening. The national energy system has certain limitations, and wind and photovoltaic (solar) energy must be balanced with continuous sources of energy from combined heat and power plants, hydroelectric power plants or nuclear power plants. To make the current renewable energy system fairer, more streamlined, non-discriminatory and accessible to as many citizens as possible, net billing will be introduced. This change is also made to comply with European directives and policies. Through net billing, these investments will also be able to pay off in a short period of time. The legislative initiative approved by the government also provides that apartment owners in multi-storey buildings will be allowed to install renewable energy parks for their own consumption, including that they can be located at a different address than the place of consumption, only that both addresses must be within the same supplier. Overall, the draft law aims to increase investment in green energy. Moldova has set as its national target for 2030 that at least 30% of the electricity consumed should come from renewable sources, currently renewable energy sources account for 6%. At the same time, as a result of the changes formulated, the Cabinet will announce tenders for the construction of large wind and photovoltaic parks with a total installed capacity of 105 MW for wind farms and 60 MW for photovoltaic panels, parks to be installed by 2025. The bill has undergone extensive consultation with the business community and other stakeholders and its passage will enable external funding to be secured. // 20.09.2023 – InfoMarket
