CHISINAU — Moldova inaugurated the Vulcanesti–Chisinau power line on Sunday, November 8, opening a new electricity route from Romania that bypasses the Cuciurgan power hub in the separatist Transnistria region, according to reporting by Al Jazeera and European coverage of the ceremony in the capital.

Source: Al Jazeera, Nov 8 2026

President Maia Sandu, who inaugurated the line alongside European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, called it the country's “energy independence line.” “For decades, Moscow used energy to blackmail us,” Sandu said at the ceremony and in a post on X. “No more: Moldova buys zero Russian gas.”

What was built

The 400 kV overhead transmission line runs 157 kilometres from the Vulcanesti substation in southern Moldova to the Chisinau substation. With a transmission capacity of up to 630 MVA, it can carry electricity equivalent to more than 50 percent of Moldova's consumption during peak-demand periods, and it gives the country an additional route for imports from Romania and the wider European market through the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E).

The total project cost is approximately €61 million — yaani about €6.1 crore — including around €27 million (yaani about €2.7 crore) for construction of the line itself. The line was initially scheduled to become operational in August 2024, but successive delays pushed back its commissioning; construction of the line itself was completed in November 2025, while technical testing and modernisation of the substations continued afterwards. Sandu acknowledged the project had been completed later than planned, and said Moldova had invested too little in energy interconnections during its first three decades of independence.

Why it matters

Wedged between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova previously received most of its gas from Russia via the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria, and its electricity system depended on the Cuciurgan power hub on the left bank of the Dniester, controlled by the separatist authorities in Tiraspol. Energy Minister Dorin Junghietu said the new line would reduce that reliance while strengthening connections with Romania and the European electricity market.

Kos said the infrastructure marked a turning point. “Today, we can say that the Republic of Moldova's dependence on Russian energy has truly come to an end. No country has the right, or will be able, to use energy supplies to dictate anything to Moldova,” she said, adding in other remarks that Moldova could now buy energy where it is cheapest.

Sandu said two more power lines to Romania are on the way. Moldova is preparing two additional 400 kV interconnection projects — Balti–Suceava and Straseni–Gutinas — with completion scheduled for 2032.

What happens next: the line enters service as Moldova's state of emergency over gas shortages runs to November 20, and attention will turn to whether the Romania route holds up at winter peak demand — and to the two further interconnections planned with Romania.