Public institutions could save up to 28% of the money allocated for heating, if they purchased briquettes and pellets during March-August

May 19, 2023

Public institutions that heat with solid biofuel could save up to 28% of the resources allocated for heating, if they made purchases during March-August, when briquettes and pellets drop in price due to reduced demand. A market study, commissioned by the EU programme "Addressing the impacts of the energy crisis in the Republic of Moldova", implemented by UNDP, analyzed the evolution of prices for the last three years and found that in April the price of a ton of briquettes can drop to 3533 lei compared to 4900 lei in December, this while the price of solid biofuels increased by 22% between 2019-2021.

The authors of the study note that this practice would reduce the financial burden on public consumers and would allow entrepreneurs to more effectively plan their production process and a uniform distribution of income throughout the year. In addition, biofuel producers are open to keep the purchased biofuel in their own warehouses and deliver it during the heating season.

According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the average annual consumption of solid biofuels in the last three years is 25.3 thousand tons. This consumption is ensured by at least 265 public institutions, which have thermal power plants on solid biofuels, with a total capacity of 57 MW, and at least 1,200 households that have power plants on solid biofuels, with a total installed capacity of more than 26 MW.

The production volume of solid biofuels varies between 21.7 thousand tons in 2021 and 30.6 thousand tons in 2020, the average for the analysed period being 25.5 thousand tons. Together with the average annual imports of 4,300 tons of briquettes and pellets, the capacity of the solid biofuel market is almost 30 thousand tons annually. Thus, the authors of the study conclude that the demand for solid biofuels is covered by the supply, and the market is balanced. If all consumers, both domestic and public, used biomass as the primary fuel for heating, Moldova could save about 20 million dollars on natural gas. This money would remain in the country, for the development of local producers, taxes, etc.

With a budget of 10 million euros allocated by the European Union, the "Addressing the impacts of the energy crisis in the Republic of Moldova" programme, implemented by UNDP, supported the creation of the compensatii.gov.md platform and will launch a campaign to replace old household appliances with new energy efficient onessi sa .

The programme finances the installation of photovoltaic panels in households and a few hospitals, as well as the change of central heating systems in several blocks to much more efficient horizontal distribution systems.

In addition, the programme provides support for the transposition of the EU's Third Energy Package into both primary and secondary legislation, as well as the transposition of a number of Directives and Regulations of the Clean Energy for All Europeans package, which address the performance energy efficiency of buildings, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, good governance and electricity market design.