Beneficiaries: Moldelectrica, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Local Administration of several Districts.

Financing: two IDA credits (equivalent of 38.5 million USD and 10.71 million USD), local contribution, funds from other donors. 

Implementation period: 2004-2012

Main objectives of the Project were:

• to improve the security and reliability of the electricity transmission system and wholesale electricity supply and, therefore, facilitate unimpeded commercial operation of the power system, both domestically and internationally;
• to improve the availability, quality, and efficiency of heating in selected priority public buildings (schools, hospitals, and residential buildings for disabled and other vulnerable groups).

Main components:

• Part A. Electricity (Metering, Equipment for measurement transformers, Dispatch and Telecommunication, Substation Equipment, Goods and materials for transmission lines). 
• Part B. Heating (Pilot Project (Ungheni), Heating supply (objects in 15 districts, objects of MoH), Energy Efficiency/building rehabilitation (2 districts).
• Part C: Technical Assistance for Components A and B, Environmental Management, Sector Reform).
• Part D: Upgrade of Accounting and Billing Systems and Financial Management systems at CHP-2 and Moldovagaz. 
• Complementing Activities: Sida Financed Heating Systems Rehabilitation at Boarding Schools in Hincesti, Cupcini, Telenesti (Energy Support Progamme), Tyrnova Children’s Tuberculosis Rehabilitation Center (EE Project); TF financed (ESREI Project) Pediatric Department of Center for Mother and Child (9 blocks).

Main results:

The Energy II Project has been rated by the and the as a success, and was announced between winners at the WB contest “ECA. Improving Peoples’ Lives” in 2009.

By rehabilitating and upgrading the power metering system, dispatch and telecommunication systems within its Electricity Component, as well as by implementing modern, highly efficient and environmentally-friendly thermal energy supply systems within its Heating Component in a range of social institutions throughout the country, the Project improved the reliability of both electricity and heat supply to the consumers, increased energy supply and consumption efficiency and, correspondingly, contributes to strengthening country’s energetic security, which created a proper infrastructure framework for improvements within such priority areas as public health, educational process, living standards of country’s population.

Under the Electricity Component, the project contributed to improving the overall performance of the enterprise. Technical and non-technical losses were reduced, as well as outage rates of Moldelectrica transmission lines and substations. There were no unserved energy cases since 2005. The transmission system rehabilitation contributed to more reliable power supply. Under the Heating Component, for 252 buildings - 69 social institutions (mainly medical and educational institutions of local and national levels) and 43 residential buildings – there was ensured high-quality, secure and reliable heat and domestic hot water availability throughout the entire year, this bringing substantial economic, technical and environmental benefits for the concerned individual and institutional beneficiaries.

The environmental assessment carried out in the context of the Energy II Project preparation indicated that no appreciable adverse environmental impacts would result from the implementation of the proposed electricity system upgrades. However, the PCB follow-up study concluded that one important environment problem associated with open-air substations is the presence of PCBs in capacitor fluid. Because removal of the capacitors or renewal of the old ones was not envisioned under the project, there were included measures to secure the sites with capacitors, which may contain PCBs, by providing lockable containers for leaking capacitor tins in Vulcanesti and other substations where leaking capacitor tins were found. 

The EMP activities with regard to PCBs have been fully implemented and even more, complemented with a series of additional activities including final disposal of all known PCBs containing and contaminated capacitors (about 19 thousand of capacitors with a total weight of 1300 tons), improving PCBs management, regulatory framework and institutional capacity building, - activities not specified in the EMP.
With regard to heating component the proposed subprojects have been largely implemented as were requested in the EMP. In particular all newly constructed boilers provide much higher energy efficiency, resulting also in lower emissions and reduction of fuel consumption. Emissions of nitrogen oxides have been reduced by almost 60 tons annually, emissions of Sulphur oxides have gone from 21.4 tons per year to almost none. There are no emissions of dust either; previously there was 1,5 tons every year. This has significantly improved air quality in the involved communities. Yearly emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2 have been reduced by over 26000 tons, which benefit the global climate, and from which benefited the local authorities (money transferred to the owner of the boiler plants, beneficiaries of the Carbon Fund, and used by them for the objects’ maintenance).

The Heating Component, besides the important economic, environmental and technological improvements, had a significant direct social impact. The Project provided construction of new boiler plants and reconstruction of the heating and hot water systems for a number of hospitals, schools, kindergartens, and some other social institutions for vulnerable people. Most of the institutions – schools, kindergartens, district hospitals, are located in small towns all over the country; at the same the Project included the reconstruction of the heating and hot water systems of the Republican Clinical Hospital and the Oncology Institute, Center for Mother and Child – medical institutions with a nation-wide importance.