Energy Minister Victor Parlicov took part in public consultations on the draft decision of the Balti Municipal Council on the project to modernize the internal thermal energy distribution system in the multi-storey blocks in Balti. The discussions were also attended by representatives of the decision-makers of the National Center for Sustainable Energy, as well as the management of CET-Nord. Attending the consultations, Energy Minister Victor Parlicov said that the ultimate goal of this project is for the residents of Balti municipality to enjoy greater comfort and for Balti residents to reduce their bills. "If the switch is made to horizontal distribution, then the company's point of responsibility is shifted to the meter. Everything up to the meter is managed by the company, everything that remains with the consumer is from the meter to him in his flat. For blocks of flats, which will switch to horizontal distribution, the problem of the so-called heating season will disappear, when the season starts only with the decision of the local public administration. The consumer will decide on his own, this is exactly what happens in blocks with individual thermal points and horizontal distribution", said the minister. The Director of the National Center for Sustainable Energy, Ion Muntean, emphasized that additional financial solutions will be found to cover the works for the socially vulnerable groups, but the state contribution for most modernization projects will be 70%, in the form of a grant. "The Energy Efficiency Fund financing programme involves financing measures for multi-storey residential buildings, which are organized in the form of condominium Owners' Associations, as well as for individual houses. We have discussed a solution for Balti, where GLC-Balti is the housing fund manager. We identified solutions for apartment owners who come with a collective decision. In the case of energy vulnerable families, where the 30% contribution will not be possible to pay, the state will come up with an additional subsidy: between 15% and 90% of the contribution amount," said the director of the National Center for Sustainable Energy, Ion Muntean. The project envisages the installation of individual thermal points (ITPs) in 166 residential blocks and the construction of thermal networks with horizontal distribution and domestic hot water supply in 296 residential blocks in Balti over the next three years, thus covering also the residential blocks where ITPs were installed under Phase I of the project. "The municipal council is responsible for the municipal enterprise that manages the thermal energy distribution networks, if the project will be supported at the council level, then the first stage will be the design and companies will come in that have the capacity to realize such massive projects, which is 296 buildings," said the interim director of CET-Nord, Marian Brînză. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will finance the second stage of the rehabilitation of the thermal energy distribution network in Balti, which will involve an investment of 8.5 million euros, another one million euros will be provided by the Green Climate Fund from the concessional loan, and the program will be covered by the component for refinancing the historical debt to the gas supplier, amounting to 5.5 million euros. The aim of the project is to significantly increase the quality of the services provided to the inhabitants of Belfast by replacing the outdated vertical distribution systems with new horizontal distribution systems and individual metering of apartments, which will ensure thermal comfort and reduce energy consumption and bills for thermal energy by individual management of consumption and restoration of the domestic hot water heating service. In total, it is estimated that about 2/3 of households in the municipality will benefit from these services. It should be noted that in the period 2016-2020, over 50 million euros have been invested in the centralized heat supply systems in Chisinau and Balti, with the support of the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and until 2025 there will be an investment effort of about 110 million euros for the further modernization of the centralized heat supply systems. In Balti municipality, there are more than 760 residential blocks, 12 blocks are equipped with the horizontal distribution system of thermal agent, and in 134 have been installed individual thermal points (ITPs).