The Government of the Republic of Moldova, with support of development partners, allocated record amounts for covering compensations of the thermal energy, electricity, and natural gas bills. This winter alone, the Energy Poverty Reduction Fund, set up with the support of the European Union, the Slovak Government and UNDP, amounts to 5 billion lei. Without this support, the number of people living in energy poverty would have been much higher.
However, subsidizing permanently energy bills is not feasible in the long run and therefore the EU and UNDP supports efforts to reduce energy consumption and expenditures, respectively.
One of the mechanisms put into practice by UNDP, with the support of the EU, is a behavioral experiment, through which households with above-average energy consumption were informed about their excess consumption, about the most accessible ways to save energy and were encouraged to improve consumption habits. After similar letters were sent to consumers in the center and south of the country in the spring of last year, between June and November 2022 over 140 thousand household consumers in the north of the country, clients of FEE Nord electric utility company, received behavioral letters. More, the bills were adjusted to capture more useful information for reducing consumption.
The monthly consumption of households that received letters was compared with similar data of those that did not receive letters in the respective month. The purpose of this experiment was to confirm that households that receive behavioral letters decrease their consumption, compared to households that do not receive such letters, because there was an increase in the price of electricity in that month and the impact of tariff increases on behavior had to be excluded.
The experiment demonstrated that households can be positively influenced by behavioral letters, with most managing to reduce their consumption by as much as 22%, after receiving the letters.
The method of behavioral letters proved to have a notable effect on households that consume more energy (over 200kWh/month), being the most motivated, through letters, to reduce electricity consumption. At the same time, households with an average consumption (below 200kWh/month) were less sensitive to this tool, saving between 2 and 8% of electricity.
The greatest impact of motivational letters was observed in the first three months (10-20%), after that the savings decreased below 10% and, in some cases, even were contained.
The behavioral experiment was conducted in the framework of the „Addressing the impacts of the energy crisis in the Republic of Moldova“ programme, financed by the European Union and implemented by UNDP Moldova.
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 supported the creation of the compensatii.gov.md platform and will launch a programme to replace old household appliances with new and energy efficient ones, will fund the installation of photovoltaic panels in households and a few hospitals, as well as the change of central heating systems in several blocks of flats with 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 energy performance of buildings, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, good governance and electricity market design.
The authors of the behavioral experiment recommend sending motivational letters twice a year to households with the highest consumption.
The households are to be selected based on the consumption analysis of the last six months and the letters are to be sent by email, to reduce costs.
Outreach letters may be more effective if they provide case studies. Thus, the authors of the experiment recommend the use of real examples, which describe the investments made by a certain person, the monthly savings, and the return of investment. The emails need to include links to useful websites, so that households receiving the letters can learn more about the possible savings. At the same time, it is important that the Government guarantees or partially subsidizes the interest rate for loans subcontracted by households for investments aimed at reducing energy consumption.
It is also recommended to create a one-stop information desk to guide households that want to reduce their energy consumption. No need for office and public servants. It could be a site with information, useful external links, and an online chat.
The behavioral experiment largely repeats the results obtained by the psychologist and author of business books Robert Cialdini. After identifying simple actions that lead to reduced energy consumption, he defined four sets of messages, targeting:
At the end of the experiment, it was concluded that three out of four groups of consumers spent even more energy in the following period, except for those who were encouraged to follow their neighbors with lower consumption.
]]>Statistics on energy and water consumption will be collected based on monthly invoices and analyzed for further development of energy efficiency measures that can be implemented by institution managements. The data collection process is supported by the Ministry of Energy and the Energy Efficiency Agency.
“Energy management is an acute need for public institutions. Inefficient use of electricity, gas or water means a waste of public money that could have been invested in development and improvement projects. The problem has become more obvious in the context of the tariff growth on electricity, thermal energy, and natural gas, when funds needed to pay the bills far exceeded the initially planned resources. Energy efficiency measures need to be applied and collecting and analyzing data on resource consumption is a first step in this regard,” says Victor Parlicov, Minister of Energy.
“We are delighted that the Energy Management Information System (EMIS), piloted with support of UNDP and GEF in 17 public institutions from Chișinău, is now being expanded by Green City Lab. The data collected through EMIS will contribute to improve understanding on the real consumption of energy and inform solutions that generate savings and alleviate financial pressure on institutions,” mentions Andrea Cuzyova, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova.
Within the project, 300 buildings with the lowest energy efficiency will benefit from a free energy audit and energy management services, including the development of a specific action plan to reduce their energy and water consumption and, respectively, their bill payments.
“Old systems, but also inefficient energy management leads to resource waste. For instance, there are cases of buildings with similar technical parameters and purpose using different amounts of energy or water. The conclusions are obvious: no thermal insulation, improper use of electronic equipment, or lights not being switched off in rooms where no one is working there. If thermal insulation requires financing, then changing human behavior does not. By cultivating appropriate behavior, we could reduce consumption by up to 15%,” says Irina Apostol, EMIS developer at Green City Lab Moldova.
The data collection and analysis process has already been launched and experts are working to identify energy efficiency measures that can be applied to public buildings.
“The time has come to treat energy management of buildings as an absolute must, like how financial management is for businesses. We will continue to work in this direction by institutionalizing energy management processes that should become mandatory, at least for public sector buildings. It is another brick in the foundation of energy efficiency and security of the country,” notes Adrian Lupusor, Executive Director of Expert-Grup.
The Energy Management Information System was developed and launched by UNDP in Croatia in 2006, where it was replicated in over 13,000 public buildings. Later, the EMIS model was adapted by other countries, including Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
]]>Inspectors and civil servants were trained on the rules for placing energy products on the market and how to verify their compliance, with the support of the „Addressing the impacts of the energy crisis in the Republic of Moldova“ programme, financed by the European Union and implemented by UNDP Moldova.
The European Union (EU) directives regarding the ecological design of products with an energy impact, as well as the labeling of products placed on the market, were transposed in 2014 into the legislation of the Republic of Moldova. In the near future, they will be updated to take into account the new European regulations. The Ecodesign Directive stimulates the market by banning the least efficient products, while the Energy Labeling Directive encourages consumers to buy more energy efficient products by informing them of their energy consumption via a label.
„Through the regulations related to ecological design and energy labeling, product quality is conditioned and the competitiveness of these industries is stimulated. Technologies that do not meet the performance criteria have left the market, making way for more efficient products. For the Republic of Moldova, these regulations are important because they will allow the reduction of energy consumption in the residential sector, responsible for about half of the final energy consumption“, said Carolina Novac, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Energy.
At the same time, these regulations will contribute to achieving the goal of decarbonization of the economy of the Republic of Moldova by 2050.
With a budget of €10 million 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 ones. 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.
]]>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.
]]>More than 80 smart meters have been installed in these 17 public buildings. The data on the used resources are automatically transmitted to the EMIS web platform, allowing for remote and real-time consumption monitoring. At the same time, the system generates alerts when energy or water consumption increases sharply. The notification is sent to the institution’s manager and other responsible persons, to ensure prompt intervention.
The beneficiaries of the project were selected together with the Chisinau City Hall. One of these institutions is Municipal Children’s Hospital nr. 1. The hospital has already insulated the walls, installed solar panels and will soon upgrade the lighting system, all these with the support of development partners and public funds.
The new energy management information system will help the institution to make savings and efficiently manage the consumption of resources, considering the continuous increase of prices, says Aliona Rotari, the director of the hospital: „The bills are now higher than usual, because of the increasing price of various energy products, and we need to make savings. However, these savings should not affect the comfort of patients who need optimal conditions to get well. We have installed six meters by which we may monitor in real-time the use of electricity, heat, hot water, and cold water. We aim to obtain efficient energy management by reducing consumption and optimizing expenditures.“
The EMIS platform allows for storing monthly consumption data and comparing energy indicators during various periods of the day, month, or year. Depending on the recorded data, the management of the institutions may appreciate when the consumption of resources has been ineffective and take action to increase the energy efficiency of the building.
„For example, some institutions may reduce the heating level during the night if their activity profile allows it. In the same way, water and electricity consumption may become more efficient. Our goal is to reduce energy consumption and provide maximum support to institutions that are interested in energy management. The energy consumption monitoring mechanism will be extended nationally and may be used for both public and private sectors. Our goal is to reduce energy consumption and support public institutions,“ says Irina Apostol, EMIS Developer at Green City Lab Moldova.
EMIS was developed and launched by UNDP in Croatia in 2006, where it has been replicated in over 13,000 public buildings. Later, the EMIS model was adapted in other countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia.
„If used properly, the system could help generate savings of 5 to 15%. Monitoring data on energy and water consumption may help the managers of public institutions take decisions and adopt a more efficient energy management, which will lead to savings of financial resources,“ notes Alexandru Rotaru, Project Manager at UNDP Moldova.
The 17 public buildings in the municipality of Chisinau that received access to the EMIS energy consumption monitoring information system benefited from training on using the new platform and energy management principles. At the same time, the beneficiary institutions are advised by specialists of Green City Lab Moldova on how to read and interpret the data, so as identify savings opportunities.
Public and private institutions that want to use the EMIS information system to monitor electricity, thermal energy, natural gas, hot water, and cold-water consumption should contact Green City Lab Moldova.
]]>The generated photovoltaic energy will cover at least 80% of the Center’s total electricity annual needs. The installation of the panels was done in the framework of an energy performance contract mechanism, implying that the beneficiary institution will return the money invested from the monthly savings account to the electricity bill. For this purpose, US$27,668 was provided by GEF and UNDP, funds to be recovered in up to seven years, according to estimates.
“This is an extremely important initiative not only in terms of advocating for and supporting energy efficiency, renewables, but also considering that the solar panels were installed in a place sheltering people in need, which also opened its doors to refugees. This talks a lot about the humanitarian mission of this placement center. We are happy to demonstrate to the community and at the national level the potential of green energy in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and in diminishing the effects of the energy crisis,” said Dima Al-Khatib, UNDP Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova.
The Placement Center for Adults and Older People hosts now 25 people, the total capacity being 45 beds. In wintertime, the Center is fully occupied. In the spring of 2022, the Center hosted as well more than 80 refugees from Ukraine and helped them to obtain the necessary identity documents and to find a job.
The Center consumes over 42 thousand kWh annually. In the context of the ongoing energy crisis, the financial resources needed to cover electricity consumption would have exceeded the available budget and could have created difficulties in the operation of the institution.
“As an institution, we use a lot of electricity. Annually, the bill exceeds MDL100,000. It is essential to cut expenses and at the same time to reduce emissions and pollution. On our own, without the support of UNDP, we would have never been able to install photovoltaic panels,” notes Nicolae Leuca, Director of the Placement Center for Adults and Older People.
Using renewable energy resources for cooking and lighting the rooms triggered the curiosity of the older people accommodated at the Placement Center. Some of them had never seen photovoltaic installations before, so they were interested to know how the sun’s rays are transformed into a source of electricity.
“Electricity is costly these days and we can’t believe this installation can generate electricity to use the TV, stove, and water heater,” tells Tatiana, resident of the Placement Center.
The Placement Center for Adults and Older People from Sculeni village, Ungheni district, was selected as the beneficiary of investment through energy performance contracts mechanism following a public competition launched in 2021. Another beneficiary is the Sîngerei District Hospital.
]]>The Sîngerei district hospital was selected as a beneficiary institution following a public competition launched in the summer of 2021 by UNDP Moldova in partnership with the Green City Lab Moldova. 18 public institutions from seven districts of the Republic of Moldova participated in the competition. Following the evaluation, two locations were selected for the installation of photovoltaic panels: Sîngerei district hospital and the placement center from Sculeni, Ungheni district.
The photovoltaic installations increase the energy resilience of these two institutions by reducing the consumption of electricity from the centralized grid and reduce the bills.
„The opportunity of such energy efficiency projects became possible as the net metering mechanism was foreseen by the national legislation. This mechanism is a successful one because it requires less investments. There is no need for expensive batteries, this role being played by the central electrical network. We will further develop this mechanism r so that any public institution can benefit,“ said Victor Parlicov, Minister of Energy.
According to preliminary calculations, the installation on the roof of the Sîngerei district hospital will generate over 100 thousand kWh annually, which represents about 30 percent of the institution’s current annual need for electricity.
“The photovoltaic installation of Sîngerei hospital will cover about 30% of its annual energy needs. This is an excellent example of partnership between local authorities, civil society, and development partners that has the potential to be scaled up by other public institutions to save costs that may be redirected to other needs of the beneficiaries,” mentioned Andrea Cuzyova, UNDP Resident Representative a.i. to the Republic of Moldova.
The total cost of the photovoltaic system installed at the Sîngerei district hospital and of the electrical network modernization was about US$98,600. The financial resources were offered by UNDP Moldova and GEF and will be reimbursed by the Sîngerei District Council during the next 7 years from the savings on the energy bills. These funds will be further reinvested by the Green City Lab Moldova in other energy efficiency projects.
“Any investment in the hospital increases the quality of medical services offered to patients. Thanks to the investments made over the years, our hospital is one of the best in the country,” said Vasile Malcoci, interim director of the Sîngerei district hospital.
The Sîngerei district hospital building was put into operation in 1967 and has a capacity of 180 patients.
]]>The new system also offers access to centralized hot water, which has been missing for a long time.
„We are grateful and I recommend this solution to everyone. You connect heating as you want, use as much water as you need and everyone knows how much they need to pay. We have not had centralized hot water since the ’90s. But now we have hot water; we cannot even believe that we do not have to wait for the boiler to warm up. Before, after the warm water was used, we had to wait for a few hours for the water to warm up again. Now we have hot water all the time. We can even fill a bathtub,” says Svetlana, resident of one of the multi-apartment residential buildings with a modernized heating system.
Most of the multi-apartment residential buildings in Chișinău that are connected to the heating system use vertical distribution. This system does not allow apartments’ owners to regulate their heat consumption and the bills are issued based on the overall consumption, registered by the building’s thermal connector. The payment is done via the housing management entity, which divides the total amount between individual consumers, according to several criteria, including apartments’ area.
The new heating distribution system gives apartments’ owners the opportunity to adjust the temperature level, depending on their personal needs and comfort. Each apartment has its own meter that monitors consumption, based on which the bill will be issued.
“Each consumer can see his/her own daily and monthly heating consumption and adjust promptly to the necessary thermal comfort. Thus, the comfort of the family is ensured and people start to consume more responsibly,“ mentions Vasile Leu, Acting General Director of Termoelectrica. The company covered the installation of individual thermal points in each of the three blocks and the modernization of the commonly used infrastructure for thermal energy distribution.
“We are supporting the change of the vertical heat distribution system to the horizontal distribution of heat. What does it mean in reality? In reality, it means that the owners of the apartments will be able to regulate the heat by themselves, which was not the reality before. This energy efficiency solution will bring savings to the owners of the apartments – up to 30%, according to our calculations,” said Andrea Cuzyova, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova. The United Nations Development Programme in Moldova and GEF allocated about US$90,000 for this project’s implementation.
A similar pilot project to change the heat distribution system from vertical to horizontal was implemented this year in Bălți city.
]]>The new heating distribution system gives apartments’ owners the opportunity to decide on their own when to turn on or off turn the heating, to adjust the temperature level, depending on their personal needs and comfort. Each apartment has its own meter that monitors consumption, based on which the bill will be issued.
“The Bălți experience and the one that we have in Chișinău, where overall six multi-apartment residential buildings were connected to horizontal central distribution of heat with support of UNDP and GEF, can serve as an example of good practices in the energy area, that can bring the change and improve country’s energy security,” said Andrea Cuzyova, Deputy Resident Representative to UNDP in the Republic of Moldova.
The absence of a centralized hot water distribution system made some householders from Bălți municipality install electric boilers, so as to have access to domestic hot water. This option is much more expensive and not energy efficient. In addition, it generates higher CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
“Modernization of the multi-apartment residential buildings from Bălți with support of UNDP and GEF contributes to a safer and more ecological environment. At the same time, it offers consumers quality, safety, and the needed heating comfort,” mentioned Marian Brînza, acting General Director of CET-NORD.
As the heating system was switched to the horizontal one, some of the residents who were using autonomous heating systems came back to the centralized one. Others say they plan to connect next year.
„Last year, the residential building across the street modernized its heating system and their lower bills during wintertime triggered discussions among inhabitants of our building. The owners insisted that we switch to horizontal heating because it offers more comfort with less heating consumption. The benefits that our neighbor building received convinced us as well,“ said Tatiana Plesca, president of the Homeowners Association of one of the buildings that switched to the new heating system.
Individual thermal points were installed in each of the three blocks in the municipality of Bălți. The common thermic energy distribution infrastructure is located to a space of common use, while on each floor the apartments are individually connected to the distribution network. Owners who have switched to the new heating system had either to cover on their own the expenses for the infrastructure modernization works in their own apartment or to access financial support through energy performance contracts. This type of contract gives consumers the opportunity to repay the investment from the savings on the heating and hot water bills over the next five years.
For this pilot project in Bălți, UNDP Moldova and GEF have allocated approximately US$98,000.
The vertical thermic energy distribution system, widely used in Chișinău and Bălți, interconnects apartments and the owners do not have the possibility to adjust the consumption of energy. Therefore, bills are issued based on the common consumption recorded at branch levels and payments are made via the housing management entity, that divides the total amount between individual consumers, according to several criteria, including apartments’ area.
]]>At the same time, the country’s energy intensity dropped in 20 years by 40.6% to 18.32 GJ/$1,000 in 2015, and GHG emissions intensity – by 29.3%, up to 1180 kg CO2//$1,000 in 2015. However, the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions remains in Moldova one of the highest in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
These are some of the conclusions of the study on the integration of climate change in energy policies, developed by EU4Climate project, funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP.
“Energy and climate change are inextricably linked, this is why it is essential to ensure coherence between energy and climate policy, from strategic planning to policy implementation. For the EU the ambitious reduction target of 55% from 1990 levels is underpinned by a solid economic vision laid out into the European Green Deal. I am pleased to notice that the EU support for strengthening institutional and policy capacities is delivering concrete results as demonstrated by the workshop today. Joint efforts from the EU4Climate and additional EU support to improve the energy modelling with the view of delivering the National Energy and Climate Plan are indeed very promising”, said Christian Ballarò, Programme Officer for Energy, Environment and Climate Change of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova.
A set of multi-level recommendations by EU4climate experts were developed, aimed at improving the legislation, the integration of climate indicators into the strategic planning of the energy sector, strengthening of institutional capacities, policy planning capacities among local public authorities and the role international organizations and financial institutions for climate change integration in energy policies, technology transfer and green market development.
At the same time, a Guide for the consolidation of climate planning and energy planning processes was developed by EU4Climate experts. It proposes, among others, the definition, implementation and communication of a long-term strategic vision to support policy coherence in climate and energy areas that will survive planning cycles, ensuring policy coordination and support for climate change priorities.
With a total budget of 8.8 million Euros, the EU4Climate Project takes place in the period 2019-2022 and has the following components: (i) updating the Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement; (ii) developing National Low-emission Development Strategies by 2050; (iii) the introduction and strengthening of the framework for the monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions; (iv) alignment with the acquis communautaire in the field of climate; (v) integrating the climate dimension into sectoral policy documents, raising awareness and developing sectoral guidelines for the implementation of the Paris Agreement; (vi) attracting investment in climate change; (vii) better planning for adaptation to climate change.
For more information, please contact: Vitalie Condratchi, communication consultant, EU4Climate Moldova, tel. 079403403, vitalie.condratchi@gmail.com
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