The MoldGRES power plant in the Republic of Moldova’s separatist region of Transnistria has halved its production and supply (from 70% to 27% of consumption) as of Monday, according to Romania Insider.
Authorities claim that the system is under control, but the magnitude of the deficit to be covered from the spot market is so high that avoiding temporary blackouts proves a challenge.
Deputy prime minister Andrei Spinu said the Republic of Moldova will sign more import contracts, transfer more gas (of the limited supplies) to MoldGRES and seek ways to cut consumption.
Transnistria closed down its steel mill and cement plant to share the gas among households, social institutions and the power plant MoldGRES. The power plant reportedly holds coal stocks, but the separatist authorities clarified that they are only for domestic consumption when there is no gas.
The halving of the power supplies from Cuciurgan in Transnistria deepened the Republic of Moldova’s power deficit during day hours (7-23) to 284MW, or roughly one-third of the country’s total needs, according to estimates of state company Energocom.
The transfer capacity from Romania is only 235MW, even after a recent upgrade. The electricity imported from the spot market (in Romania or a country synchronized with Romania) will be highly expensive. Hidroelectrica already delivers electricity under a bilateral contract at the capped price (EUR 90 per MWh until end-October) at a rate of 100MW, Economica.net reported.
Spinu stated no other supplier from Romania when commenting on the supplementary 100MW (most likely, supplementary transfer capacity, as opposed to power contracted).
The power plant in Transnistria, controlled by the Russian group Inter RAO, will further reduce its power deliveries as of November 1 unless Gazprom provides more gas to Moldova, separatist leader Vadim Krasnoselsky stated. Previously, he claimed that Gazprom implied a 40% cut in the gas supplies to Moldova as of November 1.