The Republic of Moldova’s renewable energy potential is one of the region’s largest. Primary energy supply figures for 2016 reveal that natural gas and petroleum products account for most of the total primary energy supply, with 29.9% and 32.0% respectively. In the same year, biofuels and wastes (including firewood and agricultural residuals) accounted for 25.0% of the primary energy sources supplied in the Republic of Moldova, which is the only local significant primary source of energy. Around 10.4% of energy is supplied directly as electricity (mainly from the Transnistrian region), while coal accounted for only 2.7% of primary energy sources supplied.
The Republic of Moldova took the responsibility to tackle the phenomenon of climate change by the following measures:
- reducing consumption by increasing energy efficiency;
- use of renewable energy sources to replace traditional pollutant sources.
In 2017 Moldova’s economy continued to consume approx. 4 times more energy (per capita) than the European average.
Wind energy has the greatest technical potential at approximately 77.3%, followed by solar potential equal to approximately 9.3%; biomass constitutes about 8.3%, out of which, solid biomas constitutes 7% & and biogas potential is estimated at 1,2%, and hydro potential is about 5.2%.
The technical potential of RES for power generation in the Republic of Moldova is estimated to be 65,029 GWh, equivalent to 5,591 ktoe.
Already in 2016, 26.8 % of the energy consumed in the Republic of Moldova was “green”, this amount being almost totally oriented towards household heating and cooling, while renewable energy sources covered only 2 % of the country’s electricity consumption.