50 young people performed an energy audit for 80 Moldovan households

Equipped with special equipment, 50 young people from the Republic of Moldova went from house to house in 80 households, where during the month of December they performed an energy audit while offering appropriate recommendations.

The students, trained by specialists in the field, measured the surfaces where the heat leaves and the cold enters the home, the humidity, and the level of ventilation, of CO2, they ascertained the presence or absence of mold and, respectively, offered the appropriate consultation for the situation.

These are secondary school students from 8 localities – Andrușul de Jos, Constantinovca, Vișniovca, Pruteni, Grătiesti, Chișcareni,

Șoldănești and Chișinău – who are part of the Green School, a project created in 2022 by the Alliance for Energy Efficiency and Renewables (AEER), in collaboration with the Association of Environmental Journalists (AJMTEM).

The information activity of the 80 households was carried out in the project of the Association of Environmental Journalists, “Energy efficiency – we keep the heat, reduce the bill”, as part of the program “Together we support the vulnerable population affected by the energy crisis”, financed by the European Union, implemented by People in Need Moldova.

“What surprised us the most is that houses built in a traditional way, old, retain the heat best, and have the right level of humidity. People were very excited that I came to them, they were curious to see the devices we used, what we can test, what are the standards in their homes, and what are the average admissible standards”, said Marius Gavriliță, one of the members to the “Green School” team from Grătiesti.

For her part, Irina Plis, Executive Director of AEER, mentioned that the activity of the Green School was also noted abroad – 6 countries of the Eastern Partnership expressed their interest in taking over this experience.

“What these young people have done is of great importance and impact on the population. Initially, when I saw the concept, I was sceptical about the students’ interest, then I was very interested in how young people would be involved in this activity. Today, however, I feel very impressed –really, very good things have been done”, noted Vladislav Scripniciuc, Project Coordinator at People in Need Moldova, during the students’ awards event.

“From this experience, we learned the lesson that we need to have more faith in young people and their potential – they got involved with enthusiasm and responsibility, beyond our expectations, which gives us high hopes for the future of this state,” concluded Lilia Curchi, Executive Director of the Association of Environmental Journalists.

For their involvement and contribution to informing citizens about the measures to overcome the impact of the energy crisis, the young people received diplomas, prizes (LED table lamp and external disk, energy efficient), and their schools received a voucher worth 5,500 lei each for the lighting improvement in a classroom.

Families with many children, the lonely elderly in rural areas, people with disabilities and those on low incomes have been directly supported by the European Union during the energy crisis. Aid was provided over 16 months, starting in December 2021, for the most vulnerable population groups across the country, who received financial support or long-term access to social services in the community or at home.

More than 44 thousand vulnerable households, selected from all rayons of the country, received direct financial support to help them to overcome the energy crisis. The money was distributed in two rounds: in the first round, 1,000 lei of financial aid was provided in March 2022 to low-income families throughout the country, and in the second round, 700 lei was distributed to the groups most affected by the energy crisis in the South of the country for 5 months from

November 2022 to March 2023. The amount of financial support provided by the European Union directly to families and households amounted to more than €3 million.

H.E. Jānis Mažeiks, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova, said:

“Over the last year, the European Union has developed relations with the Republic of Moldova much more intensively, but no one could have imagined that we would face so many overlapping crises. Thanks to our joint interventions, in the context of the energy crisis, we have been able to reduce the financial burden on vulnerable families and individuals. The European Union will continue to mobilise funds to support the Republic of Moldova and its capacity to get through this difficult period”.

For the elderly in villages, especially those living alone, the support has been very welcome.

“We are finding it harder to cope lately. I get 2,500 lei a month, but when I start distributing the money – for medicine, food, electricity – I have nothing left. But I’m happy with these coal briquettes. I bought two metres of firewood from my pension and I hope that will be enough for a while. Thanks for your help! It’s good that we are not forgotten”, said with appreciation Mihail Sprânceană, 89 years old resident of Cotova village, Drochia rayon.

EU assistance included grants to 15 civil society organisations and social service providers from different regions of the country. Thanks to this support, locally active organisations have been able to distribute hot lunches, food and hygiene packages, and heating materials – coal, firewood, briquettes – to hundreds of families in need. The grants, totalling more than €620 000, were awarded quickly to anticipate the effects of the energy crisis caused by the 2022 and 2023 cold season.

All this aid was made possible thanks to the project “Supporting together the vulnerable population affected by the energy crisis”, funded by the European Union and implemented by the non-governmental organisation People in Need Moldova. The total amount of EU support allocated to this project is €5 million, provided through the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI). The interventions to support the population through this project aimed at mitigating the effects of the energy crisis and reducing the worries for vulnerable families and individuals to secure resources to get through the cold season more easily.

Petr Drbohlav, Regional Director for Eastern Partnership and Balkan countries at People in Need, underlined the importance of timely help: “EU assistance has reached the families and individuals most affected by the energy crisis precisely to provide additional support and hope that we can get through these difficult times together. Every household helped to overcome the effects of the energy crisis means people who have felt the support of the European community, people who have received exactly the help they needed”.

The project “Supporting together the vulnerable population affected by the energy crisis” ends its activity in mid-April 2023 and the totals and main achievements were presented at an official event in Chișinău on 29 March.