Residential sector consumes half of thermal energy in Moldova - World Bank's survey

Chisinau, 21 February /MOLDPRES/ - The residential sector is the biggest consumer of energy from Moldova, with a share of 50.2 per cent; it is followed by transports, industry, public services and agriculture. Data to this effect is contained in a survey worked out with the World Bank’s support.    

According to the quoted source, in the residential sector, 64.4 per cent of the households heat their homes with stoves and firewood, 18.3 per cent are connected to centralized heating systems and the autonomous systems on gas, electric energy, firewood or coal have a share of 16.5 per cent.   

Thus, the survey shows that there are 1.3 million dwellings in Moldova. As many as 574,000 of these buildings are in the urban area and 751,000 – in the rural one. Over 70 per cent of the buildings from Moldova were constructed on the period 1951-1990, 70.6 per cent of the dwellings are private houses, 43 per cent of the dwellings are made of clay, 27.6 – of bricks/stones.   

In 2021, the Termoelectrica enterprise provided thermal energy on an area of 7.9 million square metres of dwellings, which had a consumption of 824 MWh/year or an average consumption of 104 kWh/square metre/year. As for the private houses, the average annual consumption of energy per one square metre is of 126 kWh. Those 3,700 flats with horizontal system of thermal energy’s distribution have an average consumption of only 59 kWh/square metre/year.   

According to a senior specialist in energy from the World Bank, Roger Coma Cunill, the institution will support Moldova’s government in improving the energy security and cutting the emissions of carbon. The assistance includes two investment projects in the heating supply sector worth 153 million euros in all.   

Also, a Roadmap for Sustainable Heating in Moldova will be elaborated within the project, which will contain three scenarios for the transition to 2050. The roadmap will include the pace of the buildings’ renovation, the needs of financing, the impact and the institutional support needed.