Moldovan energy ministry prepares action plan for preventing crisis situations on electric energy market

Chisinau, 28 August /MOLDPRES/ - The Energy Ministry has prepared an action plan for emergency situations on the electric energy market. The plan is based on a national assessment, as well as a regional one of the risks concerning the security of supply with electric energy. Based on the scenarios identified by possible crises, decision-makers provided for the measures for the prevention and management of the crisis situations dealing with the supply of electric energy.    

All EU member states and of the Energy Community elaborate such plans, which are revised at least once in four years, if no new risks appear meanwhile. The document was worked out with the support of the programme, Approaching the impact of the energy crisis in Moldova, financed by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Moldova.  

The Energy Ministry informed that the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) had identified 31 regional scenarios of electric energy’s crisis, of which 26 are relevant for Moldova. ‘’Instead, a specific national crisis scenario was identified for Moldova. It deals with the overburdening of the power networks, especially in cities, because of the deficit or the interruption of the supply of natural gas to the end consumers on the winter period, through the use of the electric apparatus for heating,’’ the quoted source said.    

The risks stipulated in the Plan are divided in several categories, dealing with the lack of fuel, failure of the electric energy market, ill-disposed attack, extreme weather, technical defection, natural disaster, human factors, etc.  

The regulation establishes the roles and responsibilities of the enterprises in the electric energy sector, of the participants in the electric energy market, of the system users and consumers, as regards the reduction of the risks for the safety of electric energy and preparation for the prevention and management of the crisis in the electric energy field.   

Also, the plan contains the duties of the Commission for emergency situations and the procedures of management of the crisis for different scenarios. The Commission, notified by the operator of electric energy transport of the Energy Ministry, verifies the risks and finds out emergency situation in 12 hours at the most. Subsequently, the Commission takes over the coordination of the actions in the sector and its decisions are compulsory and prevail over the own plans of the electro-energy enterprises, over the contractual provisions and the normative acts in the field.    

According to the statistics data, the overcall consumption of electric energy in Moldova in 2022 was of about 4,513 million KWh. The peak burden of the electro-energy system exceeds 1,000 MW during winter, while the summer burden varies between 330 and 700 MW for the right bank of Dniester. The peak burden registered on the right bank of Dniester in 2022 was of 750 MW in winter and of 670 MW in summer.   

As many as 1,284.8 thousand end consumers are connection to the power distribution networks, of whom 95.45 per cent are household consumers. In 2022, they were provided 44 per cent of the overall electric energy supplied.