Three members of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Moldova have received tailor-made training to prepare them for a household energy survey to be launched in early 2016.

The survey will provide Moldova with statistics on how energy is consumed in household. Based on the results of this new survey, the NBS will analyse how much and what types of fuels (gas, electricity, biomass, etc.) are used in cooking, water heating, space heating, lighting, appliances and other domestic uses.

The workshop included questionnaire design, with a study visit to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics where participants shared experiences and discuss final survey results for Croatia; sample design; analysis of various imputation procedures and mechanisms for controlling data; calibration of survey results with those received from energy suppliers and preparation of the final report with a quality report and dissemination of results.

This workshop prepared the three participants to carry out the first household energy survey in Moldova and extrapolate the results for the entire country. Moldova will then be fully prepared to carry out the next survey independently.

On 15 and 16 December 2015, the Ministry of Energy of Georgia, together with the INOGATE Technical Secretariat (ITS), organised a workshop on "Market Transformation Strategy for Lighting Products in Georgia". Decision makers from relevant ministries and government agencies attended, marking the starting point for technical assistance by ITS.

Lighting is responsible for 15% of global electricity consumption and an important consumer of energy in the European Union. While the energy consumed by lighting has declined significantly in recent years due to the wide-scale diffusion of Compact Fluorescent Lamps, further significant reductions in consumption are envisaged due to the expected market uptake of light emitting diode (LED) lamps.

Improving the efficiency of lighting in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors in Georgia can potentially save about 374 GWh in the country’s annual electricity consumption. This accounts for about 5.4% of total national electricity consumption and 32% of electricity consumption used for lighting. To put this saving in context, it equates to the output of three small 20 MW power plants.

While most incandescent lamps (except non-directional halogen lamps, which are due to be phased out in 2017) are already banned from the EU market (according to Ecodesign Regulation 244/2009), there are no regulations in place in Georgia, which would either restrict the commercialisation of inefficient lamps or promote the sales of new, highly efficient lighting products.

The objective of the two-day workshop was to raise awareness of such a potential market transformation for lighting products – both by regulatory and non-regulatory measures – and provide senior staff of the Ministry of Energy and other relevant ministries and government agencies with information on:

• Energy efficient lighting technologies, standards and potential savings;
• The EU Ecodesign & Energy Labelling Directives, and their specific implications for lighting products;
• Ecodesign compliance, conformity testing and market surveillance;
• Non-regulatory measures to support the transformation of the lighting market towards more efficient products;
• The current lighting market in Georgia.

The event included a visit to a retailer of efficient lighting products in Tbilisi.

Following the workshop, the Ministry of Energy and ITS agreed on the following three policy options, which will be analysed by the ITS experts, with regard to their costs and benefits for consumers, suppliers and the Georgian economy:

• The transposition of the EU Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Directives, which will be required under the EU - Georgia Association Agreement and the forthcoming membership of Georgia in the Energy Community;
• Fiscal measures, and
• Green public procurement for lighting in public sector buildings.

The INOGATE Technical Secretariat (ITS) supported the Ministry of Economy of Moldova in developing and proposing for adoption the primary legislation acts that will transpose two EU directives into Moldova’s national legislation: Directive 2009/72/EC concerning common rules for the internal market for electricity and Directive 2009/73/EC which concerns common rules for the internal market in natural gas. The national legislation will fulfil Moldova’s requirements under the Energy Community Treaty.

The development of a draft electricity law included ITS assistance in the consultation process with national stakeholders and institutions, providing technical, regulatory and legal advice and organisation of a workshop. Comments received from the Centre for Harmonisation of Legislation and consent of the National Centre for Anti-corruption and of the Ministry of Justice were also included, as well as ensuring that there is no potential contradiction between the draft law and other legislative acts.

A similar Draft Natural Gas Law went through a similar process of adaptation, refining and consultation with national stakeholders, making sure that there was no legislative contradiction with other Moldovan laws. It held its own one-day workshop to make these reviews and the consultation process well known throughout Moldova.

The draft new electricity package was approved by the Government of Moldova on 7 October 2015, whereas the draft natural gas package was approved on 28 October 2015. A revised complete energy package was submitted to the Ministry of Economy on 3 November 2015.

The Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Moldova referred to the “long term and constructive collaboration with INOGATE” which has assisted Moldova in supporting energy sector reforms in Moldova.

Representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine attended a three-day combined workshop and study visit in and around Copenhagen to improve their understanding of the EU Directive on Energy Performance in Buildings (EBPD) so as to be able to transpose it into their national legislations. At the same time, Partner Countries will receive support in complying with the Directive once it has been promulgated in national legislation.

Before the event, participants were asked to prepare a presentation on key barriers, progress already made and the next steps transposition and compliance with the Directive. They also committed themselves to providing input on the steps they have already taken towards implementation with three months of the event.

Denmark, as host, provided background on the EU and the Danish experience, introducing Danish energy policy and describing its institutional framework. A visit to the Danish Building Research Institute included presentations on calculation rules, cost optimality and comparison with the experience of other European countries, as well as the evolution of the Danish building Energy Performance certification scheme.

A meeting with the Danish Energy Agency, which manages the Danish energy certification of buildings, was the moment to discuss lessons learned and both good and bad experiences. A visit to the offices of Ramboll provided the opportunity to describe the roles and impact of Danish industry in the implementation of the EPBC and to describe the training, inspection and market surveillance of the certification scheme.

To provide momentum for the material and knowledge acquired during this study tour, delegates were given an outline of how to provide feedback on what they had learned and what steps they intended to take for further compliance with the EU Directive.

More documents from the Event will be avaliable here.

Key decision makers involved in planning, developing and financing energy infrastructure, policy makers, energy regulators, network operators and financing institutions gathered in Brussels for a workshop on ensuring supply and competitiveness through energy infrastructure connectivity. The workshop featured speakers from DG NEAR and INOGATE, as well as Country Coordinators who presented the perspectives of Armenia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The workshop discussed current EU practices in developing a new energy interconnection infrastructure within the framework of the EU’s own goals for 10% interconnectivity by the year 2020. Speakers from INOGATE Partner Countries (PC) shared their own good examples, presenting their existing procedures and tools and identifying and discussing the main gaps and hurdles that must be overcome for interconnecting their energy supplies. Security of supply, policy, regulation and financing for the development of an energy infrastructure were the main topics of discussion, with electricity interconnectivity among PCs discussed as a preparation for the EaP meeting. The agenda included existing and planned electricity interconnections, project identification and appraisal, financing and regulation, as well as the hurdles for investment and how stakeholders could be involved and share costs.

Casting a light on their own gaps and barriers hindering development of energy infrastructure moved PCs towards discussing their own experience and lessons in planning for security of supply and the development of an energy interconnection infrastructure.

Delegates discussed EU practice in terms of both EU and their own legal and regulatory frameworks for interconnection and, at the same time, discussed related social and environmental issues and the need to ensure broad public acceptance.

In the long term, the energy planning process will ensure that energy policies and strategies are defined; that dialogue between neighbouring countries will provide a balanced view of economic benefits against the pursuit of energy independence; that energy policies will become a process of consultation and that energy policy options will be quantified and assessed in terms of their expected impact.

On the photo: Ms. Violeta Kogolniccanu, Energy Community Secretariat, presents to the participants the projects of Energy Community interest