199,000 people have access to affordable and clean energy, produced in Republic of Moldova with the support of European Union

199,000 people benefit from affordable and clean energy, produced in the Republic of Moldova. This is the main effect of the Moldova Energy and Biomass Project, financed by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

During 2011-2018, 265 schools, kindergartens, community facilities and hospitals switched from heating on coal and gas to biomass energy. 70 of these institutions have gained access to hot water produced by solar energy.

“Moldova Energy and Biomass Project is a success story which demonstrates once again how the support from the EU creates new opportunities and a better life for citizens of the country. For more than 7 years now, the EU has been putting a lot of ‘Energy’ in the development of the biomass sector in the Republic of Moldova. Almost 200 thousand people have a cleaner, cheaper and more efficient heating in their kindergartens, schools and public buildings, and more and more private households and companies are introducing these modern systems. With this project an entirely new economic sector was developed in a very short time, with new jobs created, turning Moldova from purely energy consumer into energy producer,” declares Peter Michalko, Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation in the Republic of Moldova.

The investments in new heating systems, of a total value over 13 million Euro, offered by the European Union, impacted the development of 186 villages and towns, beneficiaries of the project, boosting the creation of new jobs, development of new businesses and increasing local energy security.

“In 2011, renewable energy constituted 8% in the total energy mix of the country. In 2018, that figure is 14.7%. 98% of that renewable energy comes from biomass. This is a truly transformational development change that can be attributed to the project to a large extent! None of this would have been possible without the excellent partnership between the European Union, national partners and UNDP,” says Stefan Liller, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Moldova.

Green technologies reached also the residential area, where over 1,000 families are now heating their homes with energy from biomass thanks to the offered subsidies for the procurement of biomass boilers.

Original source: UNDP
Published on 19 October 2018