# How to open an energy company in Moldova: electricity generation, supply, natural gas and thermal energy

Energy has a single regulator, ANRE, but three laws and very different thresholds. This page starts with electricity generation, where a licence is required only from 5 MW. Then come electricity supply and trading, licensed from the first customer; natural gas, where the licence requires 1 million lei available and the opinion of the Information and Security Service; thermal energy, sold at tariffs approved by ANRE; and installing solar systems and heat pumps, which from July 2026 only registered installers may do.

## In brief

- **CAEM codes:** Division 35
- **Licence:** ANRE (for electricity generation, only from 5 MW)
- **Share capital:** No minimum (for natural gas, 1 million lei available for the licence)
- **Independent entrepreneur:** Not applicable (no class in division 35 is on the list)

## Solar park or power plant: the ANRE licence from 5 MW and the connection permit

An ANRE electricity generation licence is required only for a plant of 5 MW or more, or for several plants that together reach 5 MW. Below this threshold you need no licence, but you do need a connection permit from the network operator. Above 200 kW, the permit requires a performance guarantee, and a new plant of more than 20 MW is authorised by Government decision.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 35.11 | Production of electricity | Photovoltaic, wind, hydroelectric, gas, biogas or biomass power plants. From 2027, plants using renewable sources move to 35.12. Electricity produced by incinerating waste is under 38.21. |

- **Licence: Electricity generation licence** — National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), valid for 25 years. A producer with a power plant of 5 MW or more, with several plants that together reach 5 MW, or with a plant and a storage facility that together inject 5 MW. It is granted to a legal person or to an individual registered as an entrepreneur. The conditions: the previous year’s financial statements or, for a new company, a bank statement; the plant and documents confirming that it meets the technical requirements; and qualified staff or a service contract with a specialised company. For a renewable energy plant, the licence can be applied for before construction. ANRE decides within 15 days.
- **Authorisation: Authorisation to build power plants of more than 20 MW** — The Government. Building a new power plant of more than 20 MW, or increasing the capacity of an existing one to more than 20 MW. The criteria cover the security of the power system, the environment, the site, energy efficiency, the primary energy source and the applicant’s technical and financial capacity. Winners of the auctions for large eligible producer status and for balancing capacity do not need it. The Government decision is followed by the building permit.
- **Authorisation: Environmental permit** — Environment Agency, valid for 6 years. Electricity generation, transmission and distribution, gas production, and the distribution and sale of gaseous fuels through pipelines, classes 35.11–35.13 and 35.21–35.23, as well as combustion plants from 5 MW to 50 MW, are on the list of activities with a low environmental risk in the Law on industrial emissions. Combustion plants of 50 MW or more need an integrated environmental permit, valid for 12 years. The application is filed at the Environment Agency’s one-stop shop with a technical file for the installation: its capacities, emission sources and how they are monitored, and the measures for the waste it generates. The Agency responds within 15 days and drafts the permit within 60 days at most.

**Who buys it:** Suppliers and traders on the wholesale market; the central electricity supplier, which buys the entire output of eligible producers; and large customers, through direct contracts, if the producer also holds a supply licence.

**What is different about the money:** The winner of the auction for large eligible producer status sells its entire output to the central electricity supplier, at the price set in the auction. A small eligible producer, from 10 kW, receives a fixed tariff approved by ANRE. Everyone else sells at the market price. The licence for a renewable energy plant can be obtained before construction, but it is withdrawn if the plant is not ready within four years.

## Electricity supplier or trader: the 10-year ANRE licence

A supplier sells electricity to customers, on both the retail and the wholesale market, while a trader buys and sells only on the wholesale market, for resale. Both need an ANRE licence, valid for 10 years throughout the country and issued within 15 days. A trader needs only its registration and financial statements or, for a new company, a bank statement. A supplier also needs qualified staff and a customer service centre.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 35.14 | Trade of electricity | Selling electricity to customers, and the activity of brokers and agents who arrange its sale over networks run by others. From 2027 the class becomes 35.15, and brokers and agents get class 35.40. |

- **Licence: Electricity supply licence** — National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), valid for 10 years. Any sale of electricity to customers, with no threshold. The conditions: financial statements or a bank statement, qualified staff and customer service centres. The director must have higher or specialised secondary education and no criminal record related to the sector or for intentional offences. The licence also includes the right to buy and sell on the wholesale market. Before its first wholesale transaction, the company registers in the Register of Wholesale Energy Market Participants.
- **Licence: Electricity trading licence** — National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), valid for 10 years. Buying and selling electricity on the wholesale market, solely for resale. Registration in Moldova and financial statements or, for a new company, a bank statement are enough. The same conditions apply to the aggregation licence, under which a company combines the consumption or generation of several customers in order to sell it on the market.

**Who buys it:** Businesses that choose their supplier and negotiate the price, household customers, and other suppliers and traders on the wholesale market. Household customers, micro-enterprises and small businesses can stay with the universal service supplier, at a regulated price.

**What is different about the money:** Prices are set by the supplier, not by ANRE, except for universal service and last-resort supply. Between VAT-registered businesses, electricity sold to a buyer that holds a trading or supply licence and consumes no more than 1% of what it buys is invoiced under the reverse charge. Regulatory fees of no more than 0.3% of sales revenue are paid to ANRE every quarter.

## Natural gas supplier or trader: 1 million lei available and the SIS opinion

Natural gas supply and trading require an ANRE licence. The applicant must have 1 million lei at its disposal, in its account, through credit lines or as loans from its shareholders, when it applies and for the whole term of the licence. The Information and Security Service gives an opinion, and a negative one means refusal. The supply licence is valid for 25 years; the trading licence, valid for 10, is issued only to legal persons.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 35.23 | Trade of gas through mains | Selling gas through mains to customers, and brokering those sales. Wholesale trade in gaseous fuels is under 46.71, and retail sale of bottled gas under 47.78. |
| 35.22 | Distribution of gaseous fuels through mains | Operating gas distribution networks. A single operator works in each licensed area, with an exclusive right, and the licence is issued only to legal persons. Transmission of gas through trunk pipelines is under 49.50. |

- **Licence: Natural gas supply licence** — National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), valid for 25 years. Selling natural gas to customers. It is granted to a legal person or to an individual registered as an entrepreneur. The conditions: financial statements or a bank statement, qualified staff, a customer service centre and 1 million lei available, proven by a bank statement, credit lines or financing agreements with the shareholders, when applying and for the whole term of the licence. The director must have higher education. The Information and Security Service gives its opinion within 10 working days, and ANRE decides within 15 calendar days.
- **Licence: Natural gas trading licence** — National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), valid for 10 years. Buying and selling natural gas on the wholesale market. It is issued only to legal persons, with the same 1 million lei available and the same opinion from the Information and Security Service. The trader reports to ANRE every six months and cannot also hold a supply licence, which in any case includes the right to trade.
- **Authorisation: Environmental permit** — Environment Agency, valid for 6 years. Electricity generation, transmission and distribution, gas production, and the distribution and sale of gaseous fuels through pipelines, classes 35.11–35.13 and 35.21–35.23, as well as combustion plants from 5 MW to 50 MW, are on the list of activities with a low environmental risk in the Law on industrial emissions. Combustion plants of 50 MW or more need an integrated environmental permit, valid for 12 years. The application is filed at the Environment Agency’s one-stop shop with a technical file for the installation: its capacities, emission sources and how they are monitored, and the measures for the waste it generates. The Agency responds within 15 days and drafts the permit within 60 days at most.

**Who buys it:** Businesses that negotiate their gas contracts, household customers, and other suppliers on the wholesale market. Household customers, small non-household customers and institutions providing essential social services are entitled to gas at a regulated price from the suppliers on which ANRE imposes this obligation.

**What is different about the money:** Natural gas is sold with 8% VAT, not 20%, and the reverse charge applies between licensed traders and suppliers. Retail market suppliers pay contributions towards security stocks according to their market share. Those on ANRE’s list build up, by 1 November, their share of a stock equal to at least 15% of average annual consumption, in storage facilities in the European Union or the Energy Community.

## Heating plant selling heat: the ANRE licence and the approved tariff

Producing, distributing and supplying thermal energy for sale requires an ANRE licence, a single one for one, two or all three activities, valid for 25 years. The company or sole trader proves that it owns or uses the plant or the networks for the whole term of the licence and declares on its own responsibility that it has the financial capacity. The director must have higher education and the right of permanent residence in Moldova.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 35.30 | Steam and air conditioning supply | Producing and distributing steam and hot water for heating, and chilled air and water, including making ice. The size of the network does not matter: the heating plant of an industrial park or a housing complex belongs here too. |

- **Licence: Licence for the production, distribution and supply of thermal energy** — National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), valid for 25 years. A company or sole trader that produces, distributes or supplies thermal energy for sale, including from renewable sources. The conditions: a heating plant, a cogeneration plant or heating networks, owned or used under a written agreement for the whole term of the licence; a declaration of financial capacity made on its own responsibility; and qualified staff. The director must have the right of permanent residence in Moldova and higher education, and declares that they have no criminal record. ANRE decides within 15 calendar days.

**Who buys it:** Residents and institutions connected to district heating systems, buildings and neighbourhoods served by a shared heating plant, and industrial parks that take steam or hot water.

**What is different about the money:** Production, distribution and supply tariffs are approved by ANRE, using a methodology that covers the cost of fuel, depreciation, wages and a return on capital. The producer pays for connecting its plant and submits a five-year development plan to ANRE. A cogeneration plant that also produces electricity needs two licences.

## Solar panel and heat pump installation company: installers registered with CNED

From 23 July 2026, photovoltaic panels, solar collectors, heat pumps and biomass boilers may be installed only by qualified individuals entered in the Register of Renewable Energy System Installers, kept by the National Centre for Sustainable Energy (CNED). The company works through them. Registration is valid for five years. A photovoltaic panel installer must have an electrical safety group and work under the supervision of an authorised electrician, unless they are one themselves.

| Code | Activity | What it means in practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 43.21 | Electrical installation | The classification has no separate class for installing photovoltaic panels. As it is wiring and electrical connection work, it is usually coded here. The class is not open to independent entrepreneurs. |
| 43.22 | Plumbing, gas supply, heating and air-conditioning installation | Heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar collectors that produce heat, not electricity. It is the only energy-related class open to independent entrepreneurs, excluding gas work. |

- **Authorisation: Registration in the Register of Renewable Energy System Installers** — National Centre for Sustainable Energy (CNED), valid for 5 years. An individual who installs renewable energy systems, by category: biomass boilers and stoves, photovoltaic panels, solar thermal collectors, shallow geothermal systems and heat pumps. The conditions: Moldovan citizenship or the right to work in Moldova, and a completed vocational training programme or validated skills, with a certificate no more than two years old. Construction specialists certified for the corresponding installations can register on the basis of their certificate. The centre decides within 10 working days. For a category with no training provider, the requirements apply once one appears.

**Who buys it:** Households and businesses putting panels on their roofs as prosumers, solar park developers, and owners of houses and buildings switching to heat pumps or biomass boilers.

**What is different about the money:** The installer keeps a list of every system installed, with the date, the capacity and the customer, and sends it to the centre every six months. Installers of heat pumps, solar collectors and boilers sign a completion report within five working days and are liable for damage caused by faulty installation.

## How the sector got here

- **19 August 2025 — Law no. 164/2025 on electricity.** The new law replaces Law no. 107/2016. A generation licence is required from 5 MW, energy storage and aggregation have licences of their own, and selling electricity at electric vehicle charging stations is not supply.
- **30 December 2025 — Law no. 92/2014 on thermal energy, amended by Law no. 227/2025.** For the thermal energy licence, the applicant declares on its own responsibility that it has the financial capacity. ANRE checks the company’s registration through the interoperability platform, without asking for a register extract, and can check the director’s declaration on criminal record in the same way.
- **23 July 2026 — Government Decision no. 6/2026, regulation on renewable energy system installers.** Photovoltaic panels, solar collectors, heat pumps and biomass boilers may be installed only by qualified installers registered with the National Centre for Sustainable Energy. Installers already on the register had 15 days to file a declaration on their own responsibility.
- **31 December 2026 — Law no. 164/2025 on electricity.** The technical switch of electricity supplier or aggregator takes no more than 24 hours and can be done on any working day. System operators, suppliers and aggregators have until this date to prepare.
- **1 January 2027 — Classification of Activities in the Economy of Moldova, CAEM Rev. 2.1.** Production of electricity is split: production from non-renewable sources stays at 35.11, while production from renewable sources becomes 35.12. Trade of electricity moves to 35.15, and new classes appear for storage of electricity, 35.16, and for agents and brokers for electricity and gas, 35.40.

## How big the market is

For 2025, 652 companies in division 35 filed financial statements, against 520 a year earlier. Together they had 11,265 employees and sales revenue of 68.3 billion lei, a third more than in 2024. The picture is very uneven: 618 of them have fewer than ten employees, and 335, more than half, reported no sales at all in 2025.

The average gross wage in energy was 25,405 lei in the fourth quarter of 2025, more than 50% above the economy-wide average of 16,355 lei.

## What is licensed and what is not

Every activity in energy has the same regulator, the National Agency for Energy Regulation, but there are three laws: on electricity, on natural gas and on thermal energy. Alongside them, the renewable energy law sets out the support schemes and the rules for prosumers.

For electricity, the 2025 law lists nine licences. Generation, storage, supply, trading and aggregation are open to anyone who meets the conditions, and the number of licences is not limited. Transmission and distribution give the holder an exclusive right in the licensed area, while system dispatch and market operation are single functions held by designated entities. A storage licence is required from 1 MW of injection capacity, including for a customer that has a storage facility that large.

Plants under 5 MW, prosumers and electric vehicle charging stations need no licence. That does not mean no rules: connection, technical standards and tax rules apply to all of them.

The ANRE licence is not the only permit. Electricity generation, transmission and distribution, gas production, and the distribution and sale of gas through pipelines are on the list of activities in the Law on industrial emissions that require an environmental permit from the Environment Agency, valid for six years. The list sets no capacity threshold for these classes. Heat and power plants with combustion from 5 MW to 50 MW need the same permit, and those of 50 MW or more need an integrated environmental permit, valid for 12 years.

The energy laws require the company to be registered in Moldova, and ANRE checks the registration itself through the interoperability platform, without asking for a register extract. Licence holders pay regulatory fees every quarter, calculated on sales revenue, of no more than 0.3%.

### Investment in energy infrastructure needs prior approval

Operating licensed facilities for the generation, transmission and distribution of energy is a domain of importance for state security. Anyone acquiring control or a qualifying holding in a company in this domain needs, before investing, the approval of the Council for the Examination of Investments of Importance for State Security. The rule applies to every investor, Moldovan or foreign, and the €1 million threshold that applies in other domains does not apply to energy.

The application sets out the capital structure and the beneficial owner, the amount and source of the funds, three years of financial statements and the shareholders’ criminal records. The Council decides within 45 days at most of receiving a complete application. Without approval, the parties must restore the position that existed before the investment, and if they do not do so by the deadline the Council sets, the investor pays a fine of up to 5% of turnover, capped at 5 million lei; a new company with no turnover pays between 2 and 5 million. If you are not sure whether your investment falls under the law, you can ask the Council, which replies within 10 working days.

## Generation: the 200 kW, 5 MW and 20 MW thresholds

For a solar or wind park, three figures decide how complicated the path will be.

Every grid-connected plant starts with the connection permit (*aviz de racordare*), which the network operator issues free of charge, within 30 days for a power plant. **Above 200 kW**, the permit holder lodges a performance guarantee, the amount of which is set by ANRE; if it does not, the permit is cancelled. Where the network has no capacity left, the operator can offer a connection contract on flexible terms. The connection can be designed and built by the operator, or by a designer and an authorised electrician hired by the applicant.

**From 5 MW**, an ANRE generation licence is required. For renewable energy plants, the licence can be obtained before construction, but ANRE withdraws it if the plant is not ready within four years.

**Above 20 MW**, building a new plant or increasing the capacity of an existing one is authorised by Government decision, which is followed by the building permit. Winners of state-run auctions are exempt.

A licensed producer sells on the wholesale market. To sell directly to customers, through direct purchase agreements, it also needs a supply licence. Metering equipment is connected to the network operator’s automated system, and a cogeneration plant, which produces heat as well, needs the thermal energy licence too.

### Eligible producers

The renewable energy law has two support schemes. A large eligible producer wins its status at an auction organised by the Government and sells its entire output to the central electricity supplier, at the price set in the auction. A small eligible producer, with a plant from 10 kW up to the ceiling set by the Government, receives a fixed tariff approved by ANRE once its status is confirmed. A producer can leave the contract at any time, but cannot go back. Those who sell at the market price need no status at all.

## Electricity supply and trading

A supplier sells electricity to customers and sets its own prices. The exceptions are universal service, to which household customers, micro-enterprises and small businesses are entitled, and last-resort supply, for customers left without a supplier. Prices for these are approved by ANRE, and the suppliers that provide them are designated. A new supplier therefore competes, first and foremost, for businesses that negotiate their contracts.

A trader has no final customers: it buys and sells on the wholesale market, solely for resale. That is why the conditions for its licence are the simplest in the sector: just registration and financial statements or a bank statement. A supplier also needs qualified staff and customer service centres. Both licences are valid for 10 years throughout the country, and ANRE decides within 15 days.

Before its first transaction on the wholesale market, the company registers in the Register of Wholesale Energy Market Participants, kept by ANRE. The register also asks for the beneficial owner of the transactions, and any change must be notified without delay.

Aggregation is a new licence: an aggregator combines the consumption or generation of several customers and sells it on the market. A customer can sign an aggregation contract without its supplier’s consent.

Between licensed traders and suppliers, electricity and gas are invoiced under the reverse charge, with no VAT on the invoice. How VAT works in other cases, including for new businesses, is explained in our guide to [taxes and fees in 2026](/en/blog/taxes-fees-2026).

## Natural gas: the toughest entry conditions

The natural gas supply licence is valid for 25 years and the trading licence for 10, and the conditions are stricter than for electricity. The applicant must have 1 million lei at its disposal, when it applies and for the whole term of the licence, in its account, through credit lines or as loans from its shareholders. The director must have higher education. Gas trading is reserved for legal persons, and a trader cannot hold a supply licence at the same time.

For both licences, ANRE requires the opinion of the Information and Security Service, which assesses the risks to state security and of money laundering. The opinion comes within 10 working days. If it does not arrive in time, it is deemed positive, and a negative one means the licence is refused.

Retail gas suppliers also have two obligations relating to stocks. They pay contributions towards the state’s security stocks in proportion to their market share and, if they are on ANRE’s list, build up by 1 November their share of a stock equal to at least 15% of the country’s average annual consumption. The gas can be stored in facilities in the European Union or the Energy Community, and the storage obligation can be delegated to another licensed supplier or trader.

Natural gas carries 8% VAT, as do transmission and distribution services. Distribution networks are local monopolies: only one operator works in each licensed area.

## Thermal energy

The thermal energy licence is required for heat that is sold, not for heat produced for your own buildings. A single licence covers production, distribution and supply, any of them, and is valid for 25 years. A sole trader can also obtain it.

Since 30 December 2025, the applicant declares on its own responsibility that it has the financial capacity, and ANRE checks the registration through the interoperability platform and can check the director’s criminal record declaration in the same way. One condition to bear in mind early: the director must have the right of permanent residence in Moldova.

Tariffs are not set freely. ANRE approves them for each activity, using a cost-based methodology, and the producer submits a five-year development plan. The producer also pays for connecting its plant.

## Solar and heat pump installers

From 23 July 2026, photovoltaic panels, solar thermal collectors, heat pumps, geothermal systems and biomass boilers may be installed only by qualified individuals entered in the Register of Renewable Energy System Installers, kept by the National Centre for Sustainable Energy. The installation company does not register itself: it works through registered installers.

Installers register for one or more categories, after a training programme or after validation of skills gained through experience. Construction specialists certified as site supervisors or site managers for electrical or heating installations can, under certain conditions, register on the basis of their certificate. For photovoltaic panels, the installer must have at least electrical safety group III and work under the supervision of an electrician authorised by ANRE, unless they are one themselves. Registration lasts five years.

Installers keep a list of the systems they install and send it to the centre every six months. For categories that do not yet have a training provider, the requirements apply once one appears, and the centre has 24 months to identify such providers.

The installation company is also a construction company: it notifies the National Inspectorate for Technical Supervision before it starts operating. Which panels can be installed without a building permit, and how the VAT exemption for installing renewable energy plants applies, is explained on the [construction company](/en/industries/construction-company) page.

## Which legal form to choose

For electricity generation, supply and trading, the law accepts both a legal person and an individual registered as an entrepreneur. For thermal energy, a sole trader or a company. For gas trading, only a legal person. In practice, the requirements for staff, customer service centres and financial capacity point towards an SRL (limited liability company).

The independent entrepreneur regime is not an option for division 35: none of its classes appears on the list of activities. Among installation activities, the list includes only plumbing and heating installation, class 43.22, excluding gas work.

The director matters for every licence: higher or specialised secondary education for electricity, higher education for natural gas and thermal energy, and, for thermal energy, the right of permanent residence in Moldova as well. It is worth checking before you appoint them in the articles of association.

We handle the choice of CAEM codes, the articles of association, the filing at the Public Services Agency and the opening of the bank account. For an energy company, we also prepare the ANRE licence application, and for a foreign company entering the market we register the Moldovan company or subsidiary. We can take over the accounting, with separate records for each licensed activity, from the first month. What each service includes is set out on the [corporate services](/en/corporate-services) page.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do you need a licence to build a solar park in Moldova?

Only if it is 5 MW or more, on its own or together with the producer’s other plants. Below this threshold no ANRE licence is required, but the plant needs a connection permit from the network operator, and above 200 kW a performance guarantee must also be lodged. Above 20 MW, construction is authorised by Government decision, except for winners of the auctions for large eligible producers. Electricity generation of any size also needs an environmental permit from the Environment Agency.

### Can a company put solar panels on its roof and sell the surplus?

Yes, as a prosumer, without a licence, provided the plant is at the place of consumption, does not exceed the contracted capacity, the ceiling set by the Government or 200 kW, and selling the surplus is not its main activity. The supplier must sign the prosumer contract and buy the surplus. Its value builds up in an account and covers bills for up to 12 months, and any remaining balance can be transferred to the company’s bank account.

### What is the reverse charge on electricity and gas?

When a VAT-registered business sells electricity or gas to a buyer that holds an ANRE trading or supply licence and itself consumes no more than 1% of what it buys, the seller does not charge VAT on the invoice but writes “Taxare inversă” (reverse charge). The buyer calculates the VAT and records it in its return as both output and input tax, after filing a declaration on its own responsibility with the State Tax Service.

### How much capital does a natural gas supplier need?

Share capital has no minimum, but for a supply or trading licence the company must have 1 million lei at its disposal, when it applies and for the whole term of the licence. The amount is proven with a bank statement, bank credit lines or financing agreements with the shareholders. There is no similar requirement for electricity.

### Who can install heat pumps and solar panels?

From 23 July 2026, only individuals entered in the National Centre for Sustainable Energy’s Register of Renewable Energy System Installers, for the relevant category. They register after a training programme or skills validation, and construction specialists certified for installations do so on the basis of their certificate. Qualifications from the European Union and the Energy Community are recognised. An installation company works through registered installers.

### Do you need a licence for an electric vehicle charging station?

Not a supply licence. The electricity law states that selling electricity to owners of electric vehicles through charging points is not supply. The station operator must still comply with the technical rules for electrical installations and the tax rules for the activity, and the distribution system operator is required to cooperate with it without discrimination, including on connection.

### Can a company with a foreign founder obtain an ANRE licence?

Yes. The energy laws require the company to be registered in Moldova, not its founders to be Moldovan. For companies operating licensed generation, transmission or distribution facilities, acquiring control or a qualifying holding requires prior approval from the Council for the Examination of Investments, whoever the investor is. For natural gas, the Information and Security Service gives an opinion on the applicant, and for thermal energy the director must have the right of permanent residence.

Choosing the CAEM codes, drafting the constitutive documents and filing with the Public Services Agency are part of the registration service.