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How several localities in the Republic of Moldova save electricity

Rational use of energy, reducing street lighting, making buildings more efficient and informing citizens are some of the measures that city halls in the country have taken to optimize electricity consumption, especially during peak hours, on the recommendation of the Commission for Emergencies. Our news team asked several mayors what they have decided to do in their localities or what they are going do to save electricity.

Straseni City Hall:

All decorative lighting has been turned off. Changes will be made to public lighting. According to the mayor of the locality, Valentina Casian, between midnight and 3 a.m., street lighting will be stopped, except for the main streets: Stefan cel Mare and Mihai Eminescu.

Installation of photovoltaic panels for public institutions.

Organizing information campaigns on saving electricity, addressed to both public institutions and citizens.

Hincesti City Hall

Disconnecting winter decorations, except for those on the Christmas tree.

Street lighting will be disconnected on more than a hundred streets. The mayor of the city, Alexandru Botnari, said that street lighting will be functional at night only in five sectors of the city center. Alexandru Botnari explains that the municipality wants to save to ensure that the available electricity reaches the national level, so that our cities and villages are not disconnected later.

Balti City Hall:

Starting with January 10, street lighting was disconnected between 24:00 and 5:00 in the morning.

Some Christmas light decorations that were installed in the city were also disconnected. Only some decorations were kept, said mayor Alexandr Petkov.

The work schedule of City Hall employees was changed, from 8:00 to 16:30. At the same time, a maximum energy saving regime was introduced, with the disconnection of air conditioners, except for the meeting room of the City Council, and the disconnection of several light decorations in the city hall.

Alexandr Petkov explains that the disconnection of street lighting at night, from midnight to 5:00, saves about 200 thousand lei per month from the municipal budget. According to him, this is not a large amount compared to the city, but it is something considerable. In addition, the pressure on the energy system is reduced, in which we all have to be responsible for what is happening in the national energy system. The situation is less pleasant for some city people, but it is necessary in the conditions of emergency, Alexandr Petkov added.

Borogani village hall, Leova district:

Photovoltaic panels will soon be installed for street lighting but also for several public institutions, thanks to the project “Sustainable and Resilient Communities through women empowerment”, says the mayor of the locality Elena Savitchi.

"We know how they say that we have to prepare our sleigh in the summer and our cart in the winter. That's how we did it, not because we thought that there would be, or we knew for sure that there would be, a crisis, but also to save energy resources. Under that program, we are going to implement other methods of streamlining energy resources. The priority was to install photovoltaic panels. From these, 6 transformers from street lighting and our public institutions will be powered. Of course, these measures will have a great result and impact in terms of energy efficiency,” noted Elena Savițchi.

The lighting program was adjusted to save, and also in this context, public information campaigns were held on digital platforms regarding electricity savings.

Some public institutions were also thermally insulated, to maintain heat and reduce the need to consume more electricity.

Edineț City Hall:

Street decoration was reduced.

There is no need to disconnect street lighting at night, because almost half of the city is “smart” lit, with lighting that can be adjusted, says the city’s mayor, Constantin Cojocaru. According to him, some streets, including the public garden, are lit up to a certain hour with only 40% of the lamps’ capacity.

The municipality keeps track of public institutions and tries to save as much as possible.

"The situation between 5:00 PM and 10:00 PM is especially problematic, because that's when many people leave work for home. We are trying to turn off street lighting and leave only pedestrian lighting on. We are trying to support the Government's requests," said Constantin Cojocaru.

We recall that in mid-December, a state of emergency in the energy sector was established throughout the Republic of Moldova for 60 days. Consumers are urged to use electricity rationally during peak hours from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM and from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM to reduce bills and maintain a continuous flow of energy and ensure the reliability of the country's electricity system.

Dumitru Petruleac

Dumitru Petruleac

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