Moldova Won’t Be Able to Import Enough Energy from Romania if Supplies from MoldGRES Are Cut Off

Only one third of what is needed during peak consumption hours can be imported from Romania. According to the authorities’ estimates, if energy supplies from the MoldGRES are interrupted, Moldova needs at least 600 MW of commercial capacity on the interconnections with the Romanian grid to cover electricity consumption during peak hours, but at the moment only 200 MW are available, which is three times less than needed, mold-street.com reported. Recall that the day before, Energocom’s public service obligations were extended until 31 March 2025. The decision was taken in the context of the continuing significant energy vulnerability of Moldova. MoldGRES in the Transnistrian region, which provides about 70% of Moldova’s electricity needs for the right bank, is fully dependent on natural gas supplies made by Gazprom via Ukraine. The uncertainty is exacerbated by the fact that the current contracts for gas transit through Ukraine expire on 1 January 2025, which poses risks for the future stability of supplies. At the same time, neither Gazprom nor Ukraine are willing to agree on the continuation of gas transit. It should be noted that the Ministry’s initiative was supported by Premier Energy Group, the largest electricity supplier and distributor. Among the arguments, the company pointed out not only the uncertainty with gas supplies for MoldGRES from 1 January 2025, but also “the lack of organization of annual tenders to reserve the capacity of the Romania-Moldova and Ukraine-Moldova cross-border connections; the limited capacity in the RO-MD direction; the impossibility of purchasing electricity from Romania at favorable prices; the uncertainty regarding the availability of cross-border capacity in the UA-MD direction”. “These risks were confirmed by the results of the 2025 power procurement tender held on 14 November 2024, in which only one of the seven pre-qualified suppliers submitted a bid. Accordingly, the tender was cancelled,” Premier Energy said.