The development of the renewable energy sector has helped reduce Moldova’s trade deficit by more than $170 million a year—Veaceslav Ioniță
The economic policy expert presented this assessment, noting that the import substitution effect was achieved almost unnoticed by the public. According to him, in the first quarter of 2026, the annual volume of electricity generated from renewable sources reached 1.2 billion kWh. If this volume had not been produced domestically, Moldova would have had to import the corresponding amount of electricity or natural gas to generate it. At current import prices, the cost of such a volume is estimated at approximately $172 million. As the expert notes, as a result, the national economy saves more than 3 billion lei annually, which remains in the country and is transformed into investments, wages, tax revenues, and the development of a new economic sector. According to the expert’s estimates, the value of domestically produced electricity that replaces imports already exceeds the annual export volumes of some traditional categories of Moldovan products. According to the data presented, over the past 6 years, the value of renewable energy replacing imports has grown nearly 50-fold—from $3.6 million in 2020 to $172.3 million in 2026. This growth was driven by two key factors: a more than 15-fold increase in green energy production and a nearly threefold rise in prices for imported electricity. According to Veaceslav Ioniță, what is happening can no longer be considered a temporary phenomenon: this is a structural transformation of the economy, in which the renewable energy sector is becoming one of the key factors in strengthening energy security and improving the country’s foreign trade balance. // 08.06.2026 – InfoMarket.
