Electricity shortage on left bank of Dniester - around 30% - energy ministry state secretary says

Chisinau, Jan 5 /MOLDPRES/- The electricity deficit registered on the left bank of the Dniester river is about 30% of the consumption needs or 65 MW, a huge shortage for the energy system. The electricity load reaches 219 MW, while the maximum production capacity of MGRES and CHE Dubasari now totals only 154 MW. State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy Constantin Borosan made the statement today.

According to the official, after the Russian concern Gazprom refused to honor its contract to deliver natural gas to the Transnistrian region, the energy situation in the region has deteriorated rapidly and is worrying.

"After gas deliveries to rural settlements and enterprises, except for food, heating and hot water to city residents, stopped, domestic consumers on the left bank of the Dniester started to heat their homes with electrical equipment. This overloaded the networks and created a shortage of about 65 MW of electricity in the region. As a result, on the very third day after the Russian Federation stopped gas supplies, the Transnistrian region started disconnections of electricity consumers. They continue on January 4 and 5. The duration of the disconnections varies from 1 hour on the first day to 3 hours on the second day and 4 hours from January 5. This is at a time when the supply of heating is also stopped and temperatures have been recorded at night as low as minus 8 degrees Celsius. The disconnections are mainly taking place at peak hours - in the morning and in the evening," said Constantin Borosan.

He emphasized that the management of the electricity shortage on the left bank of the Dniester River is carried out by disconnecting consumers with an equivalent load of about 65 MW.

"The disconnections are taking place in the residential sector in both rural and urban areas, street public lighting systems, water supply systems, industrial zones, agricultural processing activities and others. Unless enough consumers are disconnected, there is a risk of the entire system going down as the left bank power distribution grids are overloaded. Also, consumption in the residential sector has increased by about twice and has practically canceled out the effect of its reduction since the shutdown," said Constantin Borosan.

He noted that in order to avoid the current situation on the left bank of the Dniester, the Chisinau authorities have come up with viable solutions.

"At the meeting on December 11, 2024 on the platform of the Ministry of Energy with energy enterprises, including enterprises on the left bank of the Dniester, it was proposed that Tiraspoltransgaz would carry out the purchase of natural gas on BRM exchange as an alternative in case of a halt in deliveries from Gazprom. In addition, at the meeting on the platform of the Ministry of Energy on December 20, 2024 with energy enterprises, including MGRES and Tiraspoltransgaz, it was proposed the way of cooperation through the purchase of natural gas by Energocom and its processing into electricity at MGRES. Until today we have no response to this form of cooperation. On January 2, Moldovagaz and Energocom proposed to Tiraspoltransgaz a workable mechanism for purchasing natural gas from regional markets. On December 31, 2024, the Trans-Balkan route and the purchase on the Bulgarian gas exchange were successfully tested. On the same day, January 2, Tiraspoltransgaz refused this form of cooperation," Borosan said.

The official also presented the main actions taken by the government to manage the situation on the right bank.

"Electricity consumption is covered on the basis of production at the Chisinau and Balti district heating power plants, Costești hydroelectric power plant, renewable energy sources installed throughout the country and electricity imports from Romania, both under bilateral contracts and on the stock exchange. In addition, we have managed to secure natural gas stocks for the whole cold period, so that we can get through this winter," said Constantin Borosan.

The Russian company Gazprom has suspended the delivery of natural gas to Moldovagaz as of January 1, 2025. In connection with the potential humanitarian crisis in the Transnistrian region, due to the Russian Federation's failure to comply with the contract on natural gas deliveries to consumers on the left bank of the Dniester, the Republic of Moldova is in a state of emergency as of 16 December 2024.