Minister of Energy: Works on Vulcănești–Chișinău line completed

Minister of Energy Dorin Junghietu announced today that all works on Vulcănești–Chișinău Power Line have been completed. According to the official, the commercial operation of the Line is expected to begin in late August, this being the deadline assumed by the contractors.

The information was presented after Dorin Junghietu paid a visit to Chișinău Substation to check the progress of the testing works.

"We promised that the Vulcănești–Chișinău Power Line would be ready by the end of June, and I can now say that all works have been completed. Today I visited the Chișinău Substation again to personally verify the progress of the testing works for one of the most important energy projects in the history of the Republic of Moldova. Last week, testing of the equipment and installations at the Chișinău substation already began, this being an essential stage before commissioning," said Dorin Junghietu.

The official emphasized that on Vulcănești–Chișinău overhead power line, all pylons and all spans have been inspected and tested, and the results confirm the proper execution of the works. At the same time, at the Vulcănești Substation, testing has already been completed.

"At the end of this week, an important technical stage will follow: energizing the new bay in the substation, as we requested from the Romanian side, as a preparatory measure for the complex testing of the entire infrastructure. These operations are currently being coordinated with the transmission system operators in neighboring countries in order to ensure that they are carried out in complete safety. The coordination concerns the synchronization of operating procedures, confirmation of the operating regimes of the National Power System, validation of safety measures, and the establishment of operational sequences for energizing the new transmission infrastructure," explained the Minister of Energy.

The Vulcănești–Chișinău power line will allow the transmission of more than 50% of the country’s electricity consumption and imports from Romania and the European market, without crossing the MGRES power node in the Transnistrian region.

The Vulcănești–Chișinău power line has a length of approximately 157 km and connects the Vulcănești 400 kV Substation with the Chișinău 330 kV Substation. The line is part of the Power System Development Project of the Republic of Moldova, financed by the World Bank Group. The total value of the project is approximately 61 million euros, of which about 27 million euros are allocated for the construction of the power line.

The project is implemented by the Government of the Republic of Moldova, through the Ministry of Energy and UCIPE – the Energy Projects Implementation Unit, and the direct beneficiary is the state-owned enterprise Moldelectrica.