Moldova may face difficulties in ensuring electricity supply

The Republic of Moldova may face difficulties in ensuring electricity supply during peak hours on March 27, warned Minister of Energy Dorin Junghietu. The official stated that although solutions were found for March 25–26 to cover consumption needs without resorting to emergency energy, the situation for Friday remains uncertain.

Junghietu said that the preliminary results of the auctions indicate a significant deficit, especially during peak consumption intervals — in the morning, between 07:00–10:00, and in the evening, between 17:00–23:00.

“There is not a very favorable situation regarding the capacities available at this moment. There is a risk that we will not have enough energy for import during peak hours,” Junghietu noted.

The minister explained that the Republic of Moldova depends largely on imports, especially from Romania and Ukraine, but the interconnection capacity with Romania is limited. At the same time, potential reallocations of energy from Ukraine are uncertain, given that this country is also facing an energy deficit. If the deficit cannot be covered even through emergency energy, the authorities may resort to scheduled power cuts. These would be applied on a rotating basis, with priority given to maintaining the supply of critical services, such as hospitals or essential infrastructure.

“Distribution operators already have lists of critical consumers and will act according to established plans if necessary,” the minister emphasized. Junghietu also provided details about the current supply infrastructure, noting that Moldova is currently supplied through four lower-voltage lines from Romania, which mainly serve border districts, as well as through the northern line from Ukraine. However, the capacity of these connections is limited compared with high-voltage lines.

“The four 100 kV lines allow us to cover approximately 100–120 MW of consumption, which during peak hours represents only about 20%. At the same time, consumption reaches around 680 MW,” the minister explained. The official stressed that the situation is “very critical” and reiterated the call for the population and businesses to reduce consumption, particularly during peak hours, in order to reduce the risk of disconnections. The authorities are expected to have a clearer picture of the situation by Friday noon, when the final results of cross-border auctions and the intraday market will be available. Until then, citizens and companies are urged to save electricity to help avoid potential power outages.

Energocom announced that for Friday, March 27, on the Romania – Republic of Moldova border, sufficient capacity (NTC) has not been reallocated to cover the forecast evening peak consumption. According to the company, there is a commercial deficit of 200–280 MWh per hour in the 18:00–22:00 interval, which represents approximately 25% of the consumption needed for the evening peak.

Energocom recalls that the mechanism for reallocating cross-border capacities is complex and involves coordination between the transmission system operators of the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland. In this context, the authorities are calling on citizens to show maximum responsibility and to use electricity rationally, especially during hours of high consumption, both to reduce costs and to maintain the balance of the power system.