Moldova is trying to move from offsetting bills to reducing energy consumption itself – through insulating houses and modernizing housing. The first results of the FEERM program showed that mass energy renovation requires not only money, but also a prepared market. NM talks about what has already been done, why projects are moving slowly and how they plan to develop the program further.
The National Center for Sustainable Energy (CNED) presented the results of the Fund for Energy Efficiency in the Residential Sector of Moldova (FEERM) for 2025. Through this program, in 2024–2027, they expect to attract about 1.4 billion lei for the modernization of apartment and individual buildings, reducing heat losses and reducing citizens’ costs for heating and electricity.
At a meeting with journalists on June 15, CNED head Ion Muntean emphasized that improving the energy efficiency of old housing stock remains one of the long-term solutions to the problem of high energy costs. While the state is picking up the tab, many homes continue to lose heat due to poor insulation and inefficient heating systems, he said, and part of the budget actually goes to pay for these losses. Therefore, Muntean noted, it is important to reduce energy consumption itself.
What we did in 2025
CNED, presenting the results of work for 2025, reported that three main areas were financed through FEERM. The total cost of the approved projects amounted to about 135.92 million lei. We are talking about the following financing products:
- “Energy efficiency of multi-apartment residential buildings”
- “Energy efficiency of individual houses in rural households with extreme energy vulnerability”
- Casa Verde
For each of these areas, CNED presented the main results. As part of the program to improve the energy efficiency of apartment buildings, energy audits were prepared for 98 buildings and 14 investment projects worth 69.15 million lei were approved. This product covers up to 70% of the cost of work, and the remaining 30% must be provided by residents. At the same time, energy-vulnerable residents can receive additional allocations from the fund – up to 90% of their contribution.
Through a program for single-family homes in villages with extreme energy vulnerability, CNED contacted more than 600 households, conducted more than 350 field visits, and prepared 192 energy audits. In 2025, 152 applications for financing were approved, 141 contracts were signed, procurement for 121 houses was launched, and work was completed on 42 sites. In this project, the beneficiary’s contribution is only 5% of the total cost of the work. The rest is covered by the fund (45%), as well as funds from the EU and the German government (50%).
The third direction of the fund is the Casa Verde program. In 2025, 745 applications were submitted to participate in it. CNED approved 533 applications for the first component (evaluation of energy conservation measures) and received 205 applications for the second component (execution of works). The center approved 88 investment projects worth 17.6 million lei.
CNED expects that the implementation of the approved projects could annually provide savings of more than 5.86 million kWh of energy and more than 14.65 million lei, as well as reduce emissions by more than 1.4 thousand tons of CO₂. In addition, the program should lead to the rehabilitation or inclusion in the rehabilitation process of more than 60 thousand m² of heated area and the installation of approximately 400 kW of photovoltaic capacity within Casa Verde.
Why energy renewal is slow
CNED cites limited market readiness as one of the main problems. The demand for energy renovation services has grown faster than the ability of companies to carry out such work. The market lacks specialized companies, designers, energy auditors and specialists for technical supervision.
This causes delays in procurement and contracting. Some procedures and tenders have to be repeated because there are no suitable proposals. These problems appear even before the start of construction work – at the stage of design, preparation of technical documentation and evaluation of estimates.
Projects in apartment buildings are having the most difficulty moving forward. Unlike an individual house, you need to go through several stages: an energy audit, a decision by the owners’ association, collecting the residents’ own share, a CNED assessment, signing a contract, design, procurement, and only then the work itself. CNED estimates that the full path from energy audit to completion of work can take 18–24 months.
Ion Muntean explained that a lot of time is spent on collective decisions. Owner associations must agree to participate, agree on their own share and make decisions at general meetings. In some houses, the process is further complicated by the technical condition of the building. For example, if residents previously remodeled balconies on their own or interfered with the facade, it is more difficult for designers to choose a single technical solution.
Casa Verde: why there are more applications than real projects
Another practical problem arose with the implementation of Casa Verde. As part of this program, the state co-finances projects to improve the energy efficiency of private houses and is ready to cover up to 50% of the costs, but not more than 200 thousand lei. The remaining amount must be paid by the beneficiary himself, and this is where difficulties arose. Of the 745 applications submitted, only 533 were approved for the first component, work evaluation. For the second component, that is, direct financing of the work, CNED received only 205 applications.
As Ion Muntean explained, when Casa Verde was first launched, not all applicants fully understood that participation in the program required their own contribution. Some people applied immediately after the platform opened, but then at subsequent stages it turned out that they were not ready to pay their share or did not meet the program requirements.
What are they planning next?
In 2026, CNED plans to accelerate the implementation of FEERM and allocate more than 200 million lei to projects. The center plans to carry out energy renovations in at least eight apartment buildings, support the modernization of about 160 single-family homes of vulnerable families and finance more than a thousand Casa Verde projects.
Ion Muntean also said that in the fall CNED may open a new call for applications for Casa Verde. This time, the center plans to change the procedure and also create a reserve list in order to quickly replace applicants who refuse to participate or do not go through the next stages.
Financing the share of residents in energy renovation projects for apartment buildings remains a separate open issue. Under the terms of the program, a grant can cover up to 70% of the cost of work, but the owner’s association must provide the remainder. CNED began to develop a mechanism for financial guarantees and compensation of part of the interest on loans for associations in order to simplify their access to bank financing. Ion Muntean gave an example of a project in Balti, where the association took out a loan for its share and returned a significant part of the amount much earlier than the original deadline.
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