Moldova’s first large-scale tender centred on wind generation and battery storage is entering its final stretch. 31 March 2026, 23:59 is the deadline for submitting bids in the procedure covering 170 MW of wind capacity and a mandatory 44 MWh battery energy storage component, with winning bids to be selected on price under a ceiling of MDL 1.44/kWh, or roughly 7.1 euro cents/kWh. Successful bidders will secure large eligible producer status under a long-term regulated support framework, according to the Ministry of Energy.

Tender documentation refined after market feedback

Beyond the submission deadline itself, the tender framework has been revised several times since its formal launch in August 2024, with the aim of making the entry requirements clearer and more workable for market participants. According to the Ministry of Energy, the amendments followed clarification requests from the market and focused on several sensitive areas: definitions used in the documentation, the guarantee regime, the language of submission, the use of group-level experience, and the deadline for providing the performance bond.

At its core, the tender structure remains straightforward and competitive. Developers are expected to bring forward their own projects and compete on price, with the award going to the lowest bid within the ceilings approved by ANRE, Moldova’s energy regulator. For this round, the price caps are set at MDL 1.67/kWh for solar PV and MDL 1.50/kWh for wind. These ceiling prices were approved by ANRE in February 2024 and entered into force on 1 March 2024, according to the Ministry.

The minimum project size depends on the technology. For solar PV, eligible projects must exceed 1 MW, with a maximum size of 60 MW. For wind, the minimum threshold is above 4 MW, with a ceiling of 105 MW. An investor may submit several bids for different projects, but each bid must be backed by its own bid bond.

The application package is split into three components: the Application File, the Technical Offer, and the Financial Offer. The Ministry explains that this mirrors the tender sequence itself: investor admissibility first, technical qualification next, and price evaluation at the final stage. The Application File includes the formal request to participate, the application itself, the bid bond, and the supporting admissibility documents. The technical and financial offers must be submitted separately and archived as distinct files in order to preserve confidentiality until the relevant stages of the procedure. All bids must remain valid for 180 days from the submission deadline.

One of the most debated issues in the market has been the grid connection notice. Based on the original concept and the clarifications published by the Ministry, investors may participate in the tender even if they do not yet hold the full set of permitting documents, including the grid connection notice, land title documents, land-use conversion approvals, or environmental clearance, provided they submit a roadmap showing how and when those documents will be secured.

In that case, in addition to the performance bond, the Commission also retains the bid guarantee until the roadmap has been fulfilled. In practical terms, this means that the grid connection notice was not treated as an absolute barrier to entry, but the absence of that document shifted more risk onto the guarantees package and downstream project execution.

In parallel, the state has tried to address the post-award bottleneck as well. In February 2025, the Ministry announced that participants in this tender round would receive priority treatment in the issuance of grid connection notices, so that applications from large eligible producers would be placed first in the queue, subject to actual network capacity. That does not amount to automatic grid access, but it does directly link the tender to network access, which is critical for project bankability.

One document, however, became clearly mandatory at bid submission stage: preliminary investment approval from the Council for the Promotion of Investment Projects of National Importance. In March 2025, the Ministry explicitly reiterated that all participants must hold this approval when filing their bids. The Council reviews applications within up to 45 calendar days, although that period only starts once the application file is complete. In practice, this is the most significant institutional filter ahead of bid submission.

This also clarifies where the investment is effectively approved. There are two separate layers. First, the investment itself must pass through the Council’s screening process. Second, once bids have been assessed and winning projects selected, large eligible producer status is to be granted by government decision, a step the Ministry had scheduled no later than September 2025.

The treatment of consortia has also been clarified. The Ministry has stated that investors may associate under a consortium agreement and participate jointly in the tender. For the purposes of the procedure, however, the consortium is treated as a single investor, represented by one duly authorised representative.

For foreign players, there is an additional practical requirement. If a consortium or a non-resident company wins, it must register in Moldova within 60 calendar days of the announcement of results and submit proof of registration to the tender commission.

Compared with the original August 2024 launch, the documentation was relaxed and made more market-friendly in several important respects. The Ministry removed the term “project company” in order to avoid interpretative confusion, allowed bids to be submitted in Romanian and/or English, introduced the option for bid bonds and performance guarantees to be issued in USD or EUR, converted at the National Bank of Moldova exchange rate on the day of submission, and accepted the use of experience from controlled companies within the same group. The Ministry also introduced the possibility, upon request, of extending the deadline for submitting the performance bond by up to 10 working days.

The value of guarantees was another point that investors challenged during the consultation phase. According to the Ministry’s published clarifications, the bid bond is set at MDL 258/kW for wind and MDL 153/kW for solar. The amended documentation sets the performance bond at MDL 1,290/kW for wind and MDL 765/kW for solar. This clarification was introduced after the market requested that the values be stated explicitly in the tender documentation rather than inferred from the methodology.

The procedural calendar published by the Ministry provides a reasonably clear roadmap for the stages following 31 March. On 1 April, the submitted applications are to be examined and validated. Around 9 April, unsuccessful investors are to be notified. Appeals may be submitted until 25 April. On 30 April, the technical offers are to be opened and assessed. On 21 or 29 May, the financial offers are to be opened and evaluated. Winning bidders are expected to be announced between 3 and 10 June, with the government then expected to grant large eligible producer status by September.