The Moldovan HPP should soon approve a final decision on the possibility of maintaining the electricity selling price for the consumers on the right bank of the Dniester at 5.35 cents per kWh.
Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spinu stated this on the air of Jurnal TV channel, noting that the Moldovan HPP is open for this, but it is necessary to obtain confirmation and a final decision on this matter, which will be extremely important, including for ANRE, which will consider the request of electricity distribution companies to increase tariffs for end consumers. Andrei Spinu stressed that the government is interested in getting the best price for energy resources for citizens, including electricity. Let us remind that electricity contracts with the Moldovan HPP expire in late March. “Some new tenders for the purchase of electricity have already been launched. We have adopted a law that obliges auction organizers to buy electricity from at least two sources in order to diversify electricity supply. But our neighbors have a much higher price for electricity than the Moldovan HPP. If our purchase price is almost $54 per MW, then in Ukraine the prices are several times higher, and in Romania electricity costs $220-260 per MW. Therefore, I am negotiating with all operators in order to find a solution, if possible, in order to prevent galloping, that is, double or triple growth of tariffs. I cannot confirm that the discussions have been completed, I also spoke with the electricity distribution companies and with ANRE,” Vice Prime Minister noted. He admitted that the decision to postpone the ANRE meeting on the issue of approving new tariffs was made as part of the institutional cooperation between the sectoral department and the energy regulator, in order to see if a decision could be reached to maintain the previous electricity purchase price offered by the Moldovan HPP for another year. “I discussed this issue. But let's see what the final decision will be. It should be accepted in the coming days, or before the end of the next week, since Premier Energy has already announced the tender procedures, so that we do not go too far. Perhaps we will find a solution that will allow us to maintain a lower tariff. In 2020, the situation was the same. We postponed the tenders for 3 months, and later for another 3 months, and then we organized it. Depending on the agreements, we will see if the auction will be postponed for a shorter period, or for a year,” Andrei Spinu said. According to him, if the new contract for the supply of electricity provides for a higher price for electricity, the tariff for final consumers in Moldova might exceed 3 lei per kWh. “A tariff over 3 lei in such a situation would still be an optimistic scenario, since electricity prices in the region are about 4-5 times higher than we have now. And in Ukraine the situation is no better,” Vice Prime Minister stressed. In his opinion, under an optimistic scenario of maintaining the purchase price offered by the Moldovan HPP, it would be rational to compensate electricity distribution companies’ negative financial deviations totaling 300-350 million lei over a long period in order to prevent a sharp increase in electricity tariffs. Andrei Spinu also stated that he did not discuss the problem of obtaining an environmental certificate, permission for the import of scrap metal from the EU by another large enterprise of Transnistria – the Moldovan Metallurgical Plant, and did not make a direct connection with this, but noted that these issues could be the subject of negotiations so that, in the end after all, in the current emergency situation, the citizens of Moldova received the best price for electricity. // 17.02.2022 – InfoMarket
