Moldova launches Romania power line to sever Russian energy reliance

OPA WIRE, Nov 9 (OPA) — Moldova has officially launched a new power line connecting the country to neighbouring Romania and the European grid to reduce its reliance on Russian energy. The 400-kilowatt extra-high-voltage line runs from the city of Vulcanesti to the capital, Chisinau, enabling the nation of 2.6 million people to bypass the Cuciurgan thermal power plant located in the pro-Moscow separatist region of Transnistria.

“For decades, Moscow used energy to blackmail us,” Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in a statement on X. “No more: Moldova buys zero Russian gas.” Speaking at the inauguration ceremony in Chisinau alongside European Commissioner for Energy Marta Kos, Sandu emphasized that two additional power lines to Romania are currently in development. Kos noted that the new infrastructure allows Moldova to procure energy wherever it is cheapest.

Previously, Moldova received the majority of its gas from Russia via Transnistria and pipelines crossing through Ukraine. The infrastructure project, dubbed the “energy independence line,” was completed two years behind the initial schedule set by Moldovan authorities. The launch arrives as Moldova navigates a government-requested state of emergency extending until November 20, aimed at mitigating domestic gas shortages amid escalating global energy prices.

Regional security tensions continue to cast a shadow over energy infrastructure in the Black Sea region. European-aligned states have accused Moscow of leveraging energy supplies to exert political pressure, alongside renewed military friction including a recent drone strike off the Romanian coast. NATO has responded by reinforcing regional surveillance capabilities, pledging additional maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems, and drones to protect commercial shipping routes.