Moldova launched an electricity link with Romania on Nov. 8, Al Jazeera reported, giving the country another route to European power supplies as it works to reduce reliance on energy tied to Russia.
Al Jazeera identified the route as the Vulcanesti-Chisinau line. President Maia Sandu and European Commissioner Marta Kos attended its inauguration. Al Jazeera reported that the line opened two years later than the date Moldovan authorities had first promised.
Sandu said the connection would broaden Moldova’s options for moving electricity and strengthen its ties to Europe’s energy system. She also said two more links to Romania are planned. Kos said Moldova could “buy energy where it is cheapest.”
The new route connects Moldova with Romania and the European grid, Al Jazeera reported. It is intended to provide an alternative to electricity from the Cuciurgan thermal power plant in Transnistria.
Moldova has about 2.6 million residents and lies between Romania and Ukraine. Al Jazeera said the country had received most of its gas from Russia through Transnistria, a pro-Moscow separatist region, and pipelines crossing Ukraine. Sandu wrote on X that “For decades, Moscow used energy to blackmail us.” She also said Moldova buys no Russian gas.
Parliament approved a state of emergency last month through Nov. 20 as the government sought to ease gas shortages amid rising global energy prices, Al Jazeera reported.
