EU4Energy: Moldova Energy and Biomass Project

Project duration



€23 million

Project Website

Green energy transition, Moldova
Green energy transition, Moldova

Brief Description

The EU-funded Moldova Energy and Biomass Project (MEBP) aims to boost the country’s most viable and readily available local source of renewable energy - biomass from agricultural waste. This will foster secure, competitive and sustainable energy production. The project has delivered significant and sustainable changes to the local biomass market and now aims to consolidate these improvements by installing additional biomass heating systems and extending these to small and medium-sized towns across the country.


Why is this needed?

Moldova’s energy needs have traditionally been supplied by a very limited number of suppliers. While petrol and coal sources have diversified in recent years, natural gas, the main source for heating, is solely imported from one supplier. Price rises have placed a severe burden on the population and the economy and limited the number of towns and villages connected to natural gas supplies.

The abundant availability of agricultural waste, and in particular straw biomass as a renewable energy source, has been vastly underexploited. Tapping into this potential is the main element of the project, funded by the European Union and implemented by UN Development Programme.

Actions in brief

How is the project helping?

The project began by providing a much-needed boost to the local biomass market and is now focused on scaling up successful initiatives and extending the initiative’s geographical coverage. Municipal biomass heating and fuel supply markets are being established and around 6,960 additional biomass-based municipal heating systems installed. Over 300,000 households and/or small businesses will be able to procure and install modern and efficient biomass boilers under preferential conditions.

Funding will be made available for vocational education and training to ensure that the Moldovan labour force is equipped to support emerging markets and technologies. Awareness raising activities on the opportunities and benefits of biomass energy continue to be carried out.

What results have been achieved?

There are now over 120 biomass businesses in operation in the country and the supply of biomass fuel has increased dramatically. This has created hundreds of sustainable new jobs. Moreover, over 220 biomass heating systems in public buildings have been installed. Over 80 families have new biomass heating systems installed in their households, and over 1000 families are able to heat their houses with green energy thanks to the subsidy programme. Hundreds of schools have become part of the educational initiative on renewable energy and energy efficiency, which means that thousands of students are now highly knowledgeable about sustainable energy practices.

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