Estonian Experts Are Helping to Change Moldova’s Energy Sector More Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable

One of the goals of the development cooperation between Estonia and Moldova is to update the education system according to the needs of the labor market. To fulfill this, the Estonian International Centre for Development Cooperation (ESTDEV) supports Enerhack’s project in order to increase the country’s experts, engineers and officials awareness about the energy sector and to direct the country’s energy systems towards sustainability.

Moldova’s energy systems (boiler houses, power plants, district heating networks) are depreciated and there is a lot of infrastructure left from the Soviet times. Because the country lacks energy resources, Moldova is almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels and energy imports. In 2018, only 20% of its energy needs could be satisfied with domestic energy sources. Natural gas, which covers the biggest part of Moldova’s energy needs, was transported through Ukraine from Russia until the end of 2014.

The new future of Moldova’s energy

“Moldova is facing severe challenges in the field of energy. A large part of the country’s energy infrastructure is in dire need of modern updates. The Moldovan government understands the importance of integrating renewable energy sources, but in order to implement such changes, extensive investment and relevant knowledge is required. That is why the project is critically important, because it focuses on training Moldovan specialists and officials to increase their awareness and skills in the field of energy, guiding the country towards a more environmentally friendly and sustainable future,” explained Igor Krupenski, the CEO of Enerhack.

“The project has been well thought through and has a future perspective, which is the achievement of climate-neutral goals. The climate and the green turn are topics that have also been brought out in the EU accession requirements. The field of energy in Moldova is currently the most relevant topic and the trainings in this field are extremely necessary to raise people’s awareness,” explained Kristi Kulu, Programme Manager of Education and Entrepreneurship at ESTDEV.

The government of Moldova is planning to diversify the country’s energy carriers, putting more emphasis on renewable energy. This expansion requires significant investments in the medium to long term perspective and the development will be dependent on the country’s ability to attract investments. The Estonian experience in integrating renewable energy sources (biomass boiler houses and power plants, solar and wind farms, new district heating networks, district cooling networks, heat pumps) has been successful and Enerhack wants to share its knowledge and skills to its Moldovan colleagues.

Estonia as a pioneer

Over the past decades, Estonia has made significant progress in the field of renewable energy and has been able to modernize its energy infrastructure and divert its energy systems towards being more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

“The sharing of these experiences and expertise is priceless for Moldova, who wishes to modernize its energy systems. Furthermore, Estonia has shown strong commitment for international development cooperation, especially in the field of education and awareness raising. This makes Estonia the perfect partner to support Moldova in the field of energy and help them take big steps towards a sustainable future,” added Krupenski.

For this purpose, Enerhack plans to organize courses and trainings in the field of energy in Moldova, developing the knowledge and skills of local authorities, officials, engineers and students in the field of energy so that they would know how to solve the problems in the field and would be able to achieve climate neutrality goals. The exchange of knowledge and experience transferred through the project will raise the quality of future solutions in the field of energy in Moldovan society, which will directly affect the improvement of the entire country.

The project consists of three big stages: preparing the training schedule and materials, searching for the target group and organizing the trainings.

• Preparing the training schedule and materials: Enerhack has compiled a comprehensive schedule, which consists of all the necessary trainings to increase the awareness in the field of energy of Moldova. Moreover, high-quality training materials have been prepared, which reflect the practices and experiences of Estonia.
• Searching for the target group: In collaboration with a Moldovan partner (Moldova Energy Efficiency Agency) appropriate target groups have been found who get the maximum benefit from joint trainings. This includes officials, engineers, students and others in the field of energy who have a direct impact on the modernization of Moldova’s energy systems.
• Organizing the trainings: Many trainings and seminars have been organized which include different topics, for example the use of biomass as fuel, biomass boiler houses, as well as practical experiences in the use of biomass. In addition, energy audits in typical prefabricated houses have been discussed and the practical experience of renovating prefabricated houses has been presented.

The project’s “Organization of trainings and seminars in the field of energy in Moldova” budget is 52 750 EUR and it lasts until 01.08.2024.

Estonia has offered Moldova assistance through development cooperation projects since 2000 and Moldova became a priority country for Estonian bilateral development cooperation in 2006. Since 2000, Moldova has been supported by Estonian development cooperation with investments of €10.4 million. During this period, 271 projects have been implemented in Moldova.