Romania Provided 60% of Moldova’s Energy Consumption: Price Increase Was Almost 100%

According to data analyzed by the Romanian portal Profit, in the first 20 days of 2025, Romania provided about 60% of electricity consumption in Moldova on the right bank of the Dniester. A share of 35.26% of the demand came from bilateral contracts concluded by state trader Energocom with Romanian energy producers Nuclearelectrica and OMV Petrom, writes profit.ro. The 24.75% share came from purchases on the spot markets of the Romanian energy exchange OPCOM. The rest came from the CHPs of the Republic of Moldova (29.78%) and Moldovan renewable energy producers (10.21%). “Between 1 and 20 January, SA Energocom purchased a total of 280,000 MWh at a weighted average price of around €126.75/MWh,” the Moldovan state-owned company said. The price of €126.75/MWh is almost double the $66 (€64.07)/MWh paid until 1 January 2025 for electricity generated by the MGRES power plant at Cuciurgan in Transnistria, owned by Russian state-owned InterRAO. Energocom sells electricity to retail suppliers in the Republic of Moldova at a regulated price of €145/MWh. “Following the cessation of Russian gas transit to Transnistria via Ukraine on 1 January, and the refusal of Russian state gas producer Gazprom to fulfil its contractual obligations to supply via the alternative trans-Balkan route, the contract between MGRES and Energocom also ceased to exist. The increase in wholesale prices will affect the bills of Moldovan consumers on the right bank of the Dniester from next month, as the increase in regulated tariffs will be approved for the two main retail suppliers - Premier Energy (+75%) and FEE Nord (+64%). The government in Chisinau also approved an increase in subsidies meant to compensate the impact of the price increase on consumers’ incomes, financed from the state budget and from grants provided by Moldova’s development partners, mainly from the EU,” the authors of the article wrote.