Moldova

The Moldovan authorities plan to select projects in a new 230MW renewables auction on a “first come, first served” basis. Installations will be assigned a 15-year fixed tariff. State-owned energy distributor Energocom will be the sole buyer of the clean electricity from the planned projects.

The first months of the year pointed to a boom in Moldova’s solar sector, but the war has already started to negatively affect investment decisions.

The 15-year payments will come into force when new renewables FITs are published in the country’s official journal within the next few days. The government wants to allocate 15 MW of solar facilities ranging in size from 10 kW to 1 MW through the scheme, with larger projects having to compete in auctions.

The energy regulator has proposed a 15-year payment of $0.10/kWh for PV projects with a generation capacity of 10 kW-1 MW. The first auctions for large renewables projects are planned for early next year and will grant a fixed rate rather than a variable premium.

The eastern European nation is being assisted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with the creation of tender documentation for renewable energy auctions.

Vague on detail, the first proposal to build a ground-mounted solar plant in the eastern European country has come from China’s CCCII.

The Chinese industrial conglomerate intends to take advantage of the fiscal incentives offered by the local government for industrial projects.

A tariff of MDL 1.90 ($0.10)/kWh will be granted for the first time to a 41 kW PV system planned by local developer Opal-Succes SRL. Furthermore, the authority has granted special tariffs to three wind projects totaling 6.5 MW. The country’s new legislation on renewables came into force at the end of March.

A new renewable energy law will come into force in the Eastern European country on April 1. Solar and wind are expected to see their first development in the country after several years of almost zero-growth.