Head of the Political and Economic Section of the EU Delegation to Moldova Wicher Slagter said the EU offers financial support for optimizing energy consumption. “Owing to these projects, the Moldovan institutions will see the applicability of the next projects. We will be able to see the beauty of these projects in northern, central, southern Moldova and in Gagauzia so that all the people feel beneficiaries,” he stated.
“The ten projects will be implemented in the public sector and are aimed at thermally insulating the buildings and at replacing the existing heating systems with more modern one,” said Mihai Lupu, director of the Energy Efficiency Fund. He added that the investments in the area of energy efficiency will be recouped in seven years, while in the area of renewable sources of energy – in 15 years
Ion Musteata, director of the secondary school of Gradiste, Cimislia, which is one of the beneficiaries, has told IPN’s reporter that he worked hard to see this contract signed. “We had to prove that we need investments in insulation, replacement of windows and doors and that the investments can be recovered. In 2010 we built a boiler system based on natural gas, but the heat cannot be conserved. As the windows and doors are old, there were not more than 12 degrees Celsius in classrooms in winter. The bills for this January exceeded 40,000 lei. We project that the consumption of energy next January will be by 35% lower,” he stated.
“The criteria for selecting the projects were worked out based on European norms. There are used general rules for confirming the sums as a result of verifications performed by authorized specialists. All the details are studied. We are near the beneficiaries after the contracts end as well,” said Viorel Munteanu, administrator of the Energy Efficiency Fund.
Alexandre Darras, project manager at the EU Delegation to Moldova, said the European Union offers Moldova significant budget support in the energy sector. “The EU Delegation, together with the budget-funded institutions of Moldova responsible for these projects, ensured a transparent and strict selection process. We helped choose the best projects, which were examined by experts in the field. We will continue to provide assistance when the projects are implemented and will monitor the use of money so that the projects written on paper are materialized,” he stated for IPN.
The event was held within the EU Sustainable Energy Week staged in Moldova with the assistance of the European Union on June 23-29.
