March 13 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) extended a 30.8 million euro ($33.7 million) loan to Moldova and state-owned electricity company Moldelectrica to build a high-voltage transmission line, linking the power grids of Moldova and Romania, the international lender said on Wednesday.
The initiative aims to enhance Moldova's energy security and integration with the European grid, ENTSO-E, and its integration with its European neighbours, the lender said in a press release.
The Balti-Suceava project, with a total cost of 77 million euro, is co-financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is also providing 30.8 million euro, and the European Union's Neighbourhood Investment Platform, contributing a 15.4 million euro grant.
The EBRD loan will also support the rehabilitation of Moldova's internal electricity transmission network and the construction of a 400 kV substation in the city of Balti.
Moldova has been working since 2015 to diversify power supply sources through closer links with Romania. More than 80% of electricity consumed in Moldova came historically from the unrecognised breakaway region of Transnistria, along with imports from Ukraine via a grid connecting several former Soviet republics. Moldova has one other power line to Romania, the Vulcanesti-Issaccea line.
The EBRD has so far invested more than 2.3 billion euro in Moldova.
($=0.9141 euro)