Moldova to announce in May tenders for the construction of wind and photovoltaic power plants with a total capacity of 165 MW.
The Ministry of Energy reported this, noting that the head of the ministry, Victor Parlicov, said that the launch of large photovoltaic parks by private investors and the sale of electricity on the free market show that Moldova's electricity market is attractive even without reliance on state support mechanisms. Victor Parlicov expressed this opinion when he recently visited a 1 MW photovoltaic park built in Iargara, Leova district, by Navitas Energy, a company of Premier Energy Group. This photovoltaic park was commissioned in late September 2023. It is located on an area of 2 hectares, contains 2002 double-sided panels and is capable of generating 1.4 million kWh of electricity per year. According to Navitas Energy administrator Mihai Gîdei, the electricity is supplied to legal entities on the free market. The company also specialized in exporting and importing electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the country, transit of electricity between neighboring countries Romania and Ukraine. The Energy Minister commended the investor's initiative, which demonstrates the attractiveness of Moldova's energy market even without price guarantees from the state. "The fact that private investors launch photovoltaic parks and sell energy on the free market shows that the market works and is attractive even without relying on state support mechanisms," Victor Parlicov said. The Ministry of Energy recalled that in Moldova, three support mechanisms are applied for renewable energy producers - "net billing" (formerly net metering) for own consumption by households and legal entities, a fixed tariff for power plants up to 1 MW and a fixed price allocated through auctions for the installation of large capacities, both with a 15-year price guarantee. Tenders for a wind and photovoltaic power plant with a total capacity of 165 MW will be announced in May. Navitas Energy has an installed renewable energy generation capacity of 20 MW of which 0.98 MW are located on the rooftops of 17 central distribution stations in Chisinau, in December 2023, 2 PV parks with a capacity of 2 MW were commissioned in Tvardita, which will supply about 2.8 million kWh per year to the grid. At the beginning of 2024, the "Budesti 1" and "Budesti 2" PV parks in Chisinau municipality with a capacity of 3 MW each were put into operation. The parks are located on the side of the Chisinau-Vadul-lui-Voda highway, on the site of an old vineyard, and occupy a total area of 7.4 ha. The energy produced by the plants with the relevant status is sold to the central supplier Energocom, while other plants sell energy both on the domestic market, for consumption by Navitas Energy customers, and for export, to the markets of Romania and Ukraine. Mihai Gîdei said that Navitas Energy also provides forecasting services to about 90 renewable energy producers and balancing services. Thus, the company has taken over balancing responsibilities from several renewable energy producers, as well as from regulated entities RED NORD, Premier Energy Distribution and Premier Energy. When the Electricity Market Rules took effect on June 1, 2022, renewable energy producers are obliged to forecast the amount of energy to be produced in the subsequent period and to pay for energy shortfalls or overproduction. These deviations must be compensated by the transmission system operator to ensure a balance between electricity production, imports, exports and consumption, and to maintain frequency within stability limits. // 05.03.2024 – InfoMarket
