Moldova mandates organized power market trades
Energocom, Moldova’s state-designated central electricity supplier, must now procure a portion of its power from organized markets. By 2027, this mandate will extend to all major suppliers. The Ministry of Energy introduced this measure to boost trading liquidity and establish a robust reference price.
Market-making and price stability
Authorities are concurrently rolling out temporary market-making mechanisms and minimum bidding requirements. They will also introduce volatility management tools to prevent excessive price spikes.
Minister of Energy Dorin Junghietu emphasized that thin trading volumes currently hinder robust price signals. Speaking at an event promoting the Day-Ahead Market (DAM) and Intraday Market (IDM), he noted this inefficiency distorts resource allocation and delays long-term investments.
Impact on consumers and EU integration
"This situation cascades to end consumers through less competitive offers, reduced product comparability, and limited mobility in the open market," the minister stated. He warned that delayed reforms stall Moldova's electricity market coupling with Romania and its full integration into the European Union's internal market.
Developing a functional wholesale market requires gradually redirecting locally produced electricity, especially from renewable sources, to organized trading platforms. Participating in the DAM and IDM allows producers to diversify their commercial portfolios, maximize output value, and reduce imbalance costs.
Infrastructure and regulatory updates
Beyond liquidity measures, the government prioritizes overcoming structural grid constraints by incentivizing new generation capacities. Investors must develop these facilities near high-consumption industrial zones. The ministry also reiterated the critical need for expanded energy storage systems.
The state now permits building storage facilities on agricultural land and will exempt related imports from taxes. Furthermore, new grid connection regulations will clarify charging and discharging tariffs to avoid double taxation, Junghietu confirmed.
Roadmap to complete liberalization
By July 8, 2026, the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) will designate universal service and last-resort suppliers through competitive bidding. Full market liberalization for medium and large non-household consumers is scheduled for January 1, 2027.
To prepare, authorities are advocating for standardized commercial offers. This includes introducing fixed-price and fixed-term contracts to ensure transparency and comparability across the sector.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
