Moldova will create and store abroad gas reserves of at least 15% of its average annual consumption to mitigate price shocks.
In particular, this is stipulated by the relevant amendments to the Law on Natural Gas, passed by the Parliament in the second reading in order to increase the sustainability of the energy system and ensure the supply of natural gas to end consumers at affordable prices. The draft law contains a number of provisions related to the creation and maintenance of natural gas reserves. According to the amendments, the Government will take the necessary measures to purchase and store natural gas in the gas storages of the countries that are members of the Energy Community and the European Union states in the amount of at least 15% of the average annual consumption in our country over the last 5 years until November 1 of each calendar year. The Government will have to identify a natural gas supplier or trader with experience in natural gas transactions and storage and establish a liability to store a certain amount of natural gas in underground storage facilities in other Energy Community or EU countries. The exact amount of natural gas to be stored will be set by the Government. Gas will be purchased in the summer, when prices are generally lower, for use in winter, thereby providing consumers with affordable and predictable prices. The holder of the storage liability will purchase natural gas through a competitive procurement procedure or in accordance with the rules applicable to natural gas markets on the trading floors on which natural gas is purchased. In exceptional cases, the holder of the storage obligation may purchase natural gas under direct contracts, provided that it proves to ANRE the competitiveness of the purchase price. By Government decision, storage commitments may be substituted in whole or in part through an effort sharing mechanism with one or more countries within the Energy Community or in the EU that have natural gas storage facilities. The draft law also regulates the procedure for certification of the storage operator. The document also contains provisions on control over compliance with certification requirements by the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE). In addition, the amendments to the law transpose the European directives regarding the obligation of the operator of the natural gas transport system in Moldova to ensure a permanent two-way physical capacity for the transportation of natural gas on all connections with neighboring countries in order to guarantee the security of natural gas supplies, to establish the procedure for taking a coordinated decision on the method of cross-border cost allocation, to create the legal framework necessary for the government to adopt a new Regulation on the exclusive use of natural gas for the transportation of natural gas, to establish the legal framework for the transportation of natural gas, and to establish the conditions for the implementation of the new Regulation on the exclusive use of natural gas for the transportation of natural gas. At the same time, conditions will be established under which end-consumers will be able to continue to benefit from regulated natural gas supply prices if they decide to change supplier. In particular, one of the provisions introduced by the amendments to the Gas Law concerns the so-called fairness component, which involves a one-time payment charged to the consumer in case of a change of supplier and if the supplier's financial deviations exceed 5% of the regulated revenue amount. The amendment is intended to eliminate ambiguity in the current language and to discourage the transition from a regulated market to a free market or the simultaneous award of two contracts, one to a provider subject to a public service liability, as occurred this spring. Currently, some of the adopted provisions apply during the state of emergency, so the amendment to the law incorporates them into the basic legal framework. The amendments to the Law on Natural Gas were developed by the Ministry of Energy with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Moldova Energy Security Activity (MESA) and the European Union under the project "Addressing the Consequences of the Energy Crisis in Moldova" implemented by UNDP in Moldova. // 28.12.2023 – InfoMarket
