European solutions to reduce costs for the electricity bill in Feștelița

Feștelița village, with the financial support of the European Union and co-financing from the Energy Efficiency Agency (Moldova), has initiated the process of producing its own electricity from renewable sources, the aim being to reduce local dependence on imported national energy sources and CO2 emissions in atmosphere, but also the cost of electricity bills at local public institutions.

The first source, which generates electricity, is the photovoltaic park, already operational and the only one in the Republic of Moldova managed by a local public authority. It was built on a plot of land, previously used as unauthorized landfill, liquidated by the villagers themselves. It covers an area of 1ha where 1000 PV panels of 400 W each are mounted, with the possibility of expansion. The expected energy production of the 312kW photovoltaic installation is about 341 262 kWh alternating current per year.

Another source of electricity supply in Feștelița village are the on-grid photovoltaic systems, installed on three local public institutions: the “Vasile Moga” gymnasium, the “Voinicel” kindergarten and the Feștelița town hall, with a total power of 38 kW, and the product of estimated electricity being about 47 678 kWh /year.

The photovoltaic park, as well as the on-grid panels installed at Feștelița are supplied with the energy of solar radiation, because sunlight can be converted directly into electricity. Both photovoltaic systems are connected to the electricity grid and have the possibility to deliver the power into the grid.

In the case of the photovoltaic park, the delivery of energy for a fee in the national supplier’s network will bring a substantial income to the local budget. Minimum profit of 615 000 lei is expected, money needed by the village to solve other pressing community problems.

The electricity produced by on-grid photovoltaic system is consumed directly by the three public institutions and will cover about 90 % of their need, and in case of a surplus of generated electricity, it is supplied in the central network and can be sold or compensated by the energy provider in subsequent invoices, thus reducing their value by about 98 000 lei/ year savings in the local budget.

These installation systems will also contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by about 150 tons per year, a key objective of the project and the locality.

For a clearer visibility of the results and benefits obtained from the use of these modern equipment producing electricity from renewable sources, it is important to constantly monitor the whole process. For this purpose, the Centre of Excellence in Energy Efficiency was created inside the town hall, equipped with high-performance monitoring equipment, which records and displays on a screen all the data regarding the performance of the installations, the final energy product, consumption, savings and environmental benefits. Any inhabitant of the village or other persons, interested in the experience of Feștelița locality in the field of energy efficiency, can consult these monitoring data.

These two types of photovoltaic systems installed in Feştelița, are part of the project “Creation of excellence center through piloting demonstrative new energy efficiency technologies and renewable energy sources in Festelita community,” financially supported by the European Union through the EU program “Convention Mayors – Demonstration Projects “(CoM-DeP).

Their use paved the basis for a thorough security of energy supply of the locality and the generation of income in the local budget from renewable sources, contributed to reducing environmental pollution and preventing climate change, but also to improving living conditions, education, work of community residents.