Anenii Noi district council is looking for a private partner to install biomass heating systems in the district’s public institutions
Anenii Noi District Council has announced a contest to select the private partner to install biomass heating systems and supply heat in a number of public institutions in the district under a public private partnership (PPP) for a period of 10 years. The contest notice was published in the Official Gazette (Monitorul Oficial) on February 17, while the bids can be submitted until April 17.
According to a feasibility study conducted earlier, there are several heating plants in Moldova operating based on fossil fuel, such as coal or natural gas, the term of operation of which will expire in the near future and which will thus require refurbishment investment. This is an opportunity to replace these district heating plants with biomass heating systems, to be served in different regions by a single supplier of solid biofuel. A first PPP model was launched in 2014 in Leova district, where 19 educational institutions are now heated in a centralized manner, thus avoiding technical problems related to the rehabilitation of old plants and the growing cost of fossil fuel. The private company selected based on a contest organized by the district council installed modern pellet based boilers in the district of Leova in 2014, the investment amounting to 500,000 Euros.
In August 2016 a contest aimed at establishing a Public-Private Partnership in Ungheni district was announced. According to the technical specifications, the private partner is to rehabilitate 5 heating plants and install two pellet burning boilers in two public institutions in the district, as well as supply heat during the next 10 years. The company will also implement energy efficiency measures in five public institutions, financed by the Energy and Biomass Project, and supply biomass heating during the term of the PPP contract.
In total, the Energy and Biomass Project aims to support 10 districts in developing PPP models in the provision of energy supply services. It was the first of the 10 contests announced by the districts selected for the implementation of PPPs in biomass heat supply. Thus, the Project will allocate 100 thousand dollars from European funds to the administration of 10 districts of Moldova, in order to establish public-private partnerships so as to address, among others, the issue of fuel quality, service sustainability and energy security of beneficiary communities/institutions, as well as to contribute to local development by creating new jobs and increasing contributions to local budgets.
The selected districts are Taraclia, Riscani, Ungheni, Donduseni, UTAG, Anenii Noi, Orhei, Nisporeni, Telenesti and Leova. To qualify for a grant of USD 100 thousand, the district administrations will have to select the private partners responsible for project implementation, based on contest.