Moldovan parliament passes law on energy efficiency in new version
16:43 | 19.07.2018 Category: Economic
Chisinau, 19 July /MOLDPRES/ - The parliament today adopted the new version of the law on energy efficiency in the final reading. The document was backed with the votes of 61 lawmakers.
According to the authors, the goal of the draft is to create the needed legal framework for the promotion and improvement of energy efficiency, including through the carrying out of action plans in the energy efficiency sector, through developing the market of energy services, as well as by implementing other measures of optimizing the consumptions of energy. At the same time, the draft contains a string of new elements, transposed from the European directive on energy efficiency.
The new stipulations refer to schemes of energy efficiency obligations, through which the operators of the systems of distribution of electric energy, natural gas and the importers of oil products are designated as obliged sides. These provisions will contribute to the saving of energy in the overall annual volume of sales of energy to end consumers, calculated as average size for a period of 3 years ahead of 1 January 2016.
Thus, the obliged sides will transfer to treasury accounts opened in the state budget annual contributions equivalent to all the expenses needed to carry out energy efficiency measures, in the context of fulfillment of the related obligations. The annual contributions will be established and approved by the cabinet and will be transferred quarterly, in equal installments, till the date of 15 of the next month to the quarter of reference. The first installment is to be made till 15 April of each year.
One chapter refers to the energy efficiency in the use of energy. It includes also the renovation of buildings through the implementation of minimum requirements of energy performance of residential, commercial buildings, offices buildings, other types of buildings, no matter whether they belong to the public or private sector. The restoration of the national real estate fund will be carried out in the conditions established in the sectoral strategy for the renovation of the national real estate fund.
Other provisions refer to measures of calling to account for infringements of legislation in the energy efficiency sector and the ones of restructuring the institutional framework and of developing capacities in the field dealing with energy efficiency. Thus, it is envisaged the creation of an authority in charge of implementation of policies in the field, via re-organization of the Agency for Energy Efficiency through merger (absorption) with the Fund for Energy Efficiency.
According to the authors, the working out and adoption of the new law on energy efficiency comes from the commitments taken within the Moldova-European Union Association Agreement and from the need to introduce relevant international standards nationally and to gradually get bring Moldova’s norms in line with the EU ones in the energy efficiency sector.
(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor M. Jantovan)
