First significant step towards a transparent and competitive electricity market in Moldova

Moldova has adopted new wholesale electricity market rules in line with the Energy Community electricity acquis. The rules define procedures for the procurement of electricity on forward, day-ahead, intraday and balancing markets and rules on ancillary services procurement and imbalance settlement.

The rules, adopted by the national regulatory authority ANRE on 7 August, were published in the Official Journal on 2 October 2020. They will enter into force one year later, on 2 October 2021, with the exception of the procedure for procurement of electricity which must be operational as of January 2021. However, absent transitional balancing rules, it is still uncertain whether the procurement procedure will be fully implemented already in spring 2021. Nonetheless, the Secretariat and ANRE are working closely together to ensure that a transparent and competitive procedure will be organized in 2021, and that past deficiencies will not occur again.

The wholesale electricity market rules and the procedure for the procurement of electricity were developed with technical assistance delivered within the framework of the EU4Energy Governance project that is part of the EU4Energy Initiative of the European Union.

* The EU4Energy Initiative covers all EU support to improve energy supply, security and connectivity, as well as to promote energy efficiency and the use of renewables in the Eastern Partner countries Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It does this by financing projects and programmes that help to reform energy markets and to reduce national energy dependence and consumption. Over the longer term, this makes energy supply more reliable, transparent and affordable, thus reducing energy poverty and energy bills for both citizens and the private sector.