IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i6p3261-d517789.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Development of the Energy Sector in a Country Deficient in Mineral Resources: The Case of the Republic of Moldova

Author

Listed:
  • Ecaterina Resniova

    (Department of Economics, Organization and Management, The Faculty of Economics, Saint-Petersburg Mining University, 2, 21st Line, 199106 St Petersburg, Russia)

  • Tatiana Ponomarenko

    (Department of Economics, Organization and Management, The Faculty of Economics, Saint-Petersburg Mining University, 2, 21st Line, 199106 St Petersburg, Russia)

Abstract

The energy sector is an essential element in an economy’s infrastructure, so a deficit of national mineral resources makes the energy sector dependent on imports of raw materials, which in turn can negatively affect a country’s energy security. The sustainable development of the energy sector for countries with transitioning economies should be based on the energy trilemma. Four principles are proposed: diversification of energy resources and energy generation sources, ensuring energy efficiency, ensuring energy affordability, and green energy production. Based on a comparative analysis of the economic and energy indicators (for the years 2014 to 2019) of European countries that are not members of the European Union, the situation in the energy sector of the Republic of Moldova is classified as critical and its fundamental issues are identified (107th place in the World Energy Trilemma Index). The main objectives of the study are: (1) To analyze energy and economic efficiency as well as the conditions for and problems of the functioning of the energy sector in countries with transition economies (using non-European Union countries as an example); (2) To present a substantiation of the directions for development of the energy sector in countries with transition economies that lack energy resources (using the Republic of Moldova as an example), taking into account the identified factors and principles of sustainable development; (3) To develop an economic and mathematical model for assessing the directions for the development of the energy sector in countries with transition economies using multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Decision-making methods can be used to select strategic development alternatives, particularly in the energy sector. MCDA has several advantages and uses in the following situations: comparing several alternatives; identifying the most preferable and unacceptable alternatives; comparing alternatives based on several (sometimes conflicting) criteria; looking for a compromise in a situation where different stakeholders have conflicting goals or values. A methodology including a system of 7 indicators and an economic and mathematical model for assessing development paths for the energy sector in countries with transition economies were developed that are based on multiple-criteria decision analysis. An algorithm and a computer program were developed to carry out MCDA and select the best development path for the energy sector of the Republic of Moldova. The article presents a rationale for choosing the best option regarding the development of the energy sector of the Republic of Moldova, which is a country with a deficit of its own energy resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Ecaterina Resniova & Tatiana Ponomarenko, 2021. "Sustainable Development of the Energy Sector in a Country Deficient in Mineral Resources: The Case of the Republic of Moldova," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3261-:d:517789
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/6/3261/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/6/3261/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ulrich Steger & Wouter Achterberg (†) & Kornelis Blok & Henning Bode & Walter Frenz & Corinna Gather & Gerd Hanekamp & Dieter Imboden & Matthias Jahnke & Michael Kost & Rudi Kurz & Hans G. Nutzinger &, 2005. "Sustainable Development and Innovation in the Energy Sector," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-540-26882-6 edited by Friederike Wütscher, March.
    2. Przychodzen, Wojciech & Przychodzen, Justyna, 2020. "Determinants of renewable energy production in transition economies: A panel data approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    3. Magdalena Tutak & Jarosław Brodny & Dominika Siwiec & Robert Ulewicz & Peter Bindzár, 2020. "Studying the Level of Sustainable Energy Development of the European Union Countries and Their Similarity Based on the Economic and Demographic Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-31, December.
    4. Büyüközkan, Gülçin & Karabulut, Yağmur & Mukul, Esin, 2018. "A novel renewable energy selection model for United Nations' sustainable development goals," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PA), pages 290-302.
    5. Aida Sa & Patrik Thollander & Majid Rafiee, 2018. "Industrial Energy Management Systems and Energy-Related Decision-Making," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-12, October.
    6. Lucian-Ionel Cioca & Larisa Ivascu & Elena Cristina Rada & Vincenzo Torretta & Gabriela Ionescu, 2015. "Sustainable Development and Technological Impact on CO 2 Reducing Conditions in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-14, February.
    7. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    8. Wang, Jiang-Jiang & Jing, You-Yin & Zhang, Chun-Fa & Zhao, Jun-Hong, 2009. "Review on multi-criteria decision analysis aid in sustainable energy decision-making," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2263-2278, December.
    9. Thomas Hoppe & Anna Butenko & Michiel Heldeweg, 2018. "Innovation in the European Energy Sector and Regulatory Responses to It: Guest Editorial Note," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-16, February.
    10. Khoshnava, Seyed Meysam & Rostami, Raheleh & Zin, Rosli Mohamad & Kamyab, Hesam & Abd Majid, Muhd Zaimi & Yousefpour, Alireza & Mardani, Abbas, 2020. "Green efforts to link the economy and infrastructure strategies in the context of sustainable development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    11. Jarosław Brodny & Magdalena Tutak, 2020. "Analyzing Similarities between the European Union Countries in Terms of the Structure and Volume of Energy Production from Renewable Energy Sources," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-37, February.
    12. Soroudi, Alireza & Amraee, Turaj, 2013. "Decision making under uncertainty in energy systems: State of the art," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 376-384.
    13. Foley, A.M. & Ó Gallachóir, B.P. & Hur, J. & Baldick, R. & McKeogh, E.J., 2010. "A strategic review of electricity systems models," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 4522-4530.
    14. Šprajc, Polona & Bjegović, Miroslav & Vasić, Bojana, 2019. "Energy security in decision making and governance - Methodological analysis of energy trilemma index," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1-1.
    15. Chu, Cheng-Ta & Hawkes, Adam D., 2020. "A geographic information system-based global variable renewable potential assessment using spatially resolved simulation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    16. Streimikiene, Dalia & Siksnelyte, Indre, 2016. "Sustainability assessment of electricity market models in selected developed world countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 72-82.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lidija Đurđevac Ignjatović & Vesna Krstić & Vlastimir Radonjanin & Violeta Jovanović & Mirjana Malešev & Dragan Ignjatović & Vanja Đurđevac, 2022. "Application of Cement Paste in Mining Works, Environmental Protection, and the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mining Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-13, June.
    2. Marina A. Nevskaya & Semen M. Raikhlin & Victoriya V. Vinogradova & Victor V. Belyaev & Mark M. Khaikin, 2023. "A Study of Factors Affecting National Energy Efficiency," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-14, July.
    3. Cheynesh B. Kongar-Syuryun & Alexander V. Aleksakhin & Evgeniya N. Eliseeva & Anna V. Zhaglovskaya & Roman V. Klyuev & Denis A. Petrusevich, 2023. "Modern Technologies Providing a Full Cycle of Geo-Resources Development," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, April.
    4. Elena N. Shaforostova & Olga V. Kosareva-Volod’ko & Olga V. Belyankina & Danila Y. Solovykh & Ekaterina S. Sazankova & Elena I. Sizova & Danila A. Adigamov, 2023. "A Tailing Dump as Industrial Deposit; Study of the Mineralogical Composition of Tailing Dump of the Southern Urals and the Possibility of Tailings Re-Development," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13, February.
    5. Anna Misztal & Magdalena Kowalska & Anita Fajczak-Kowalska, 2022. "The Impact of Economic Factors on the Sustainable Development of Energy Enterprises: The Case of Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia and Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.
    6. Christina Francis & Paul Hansen & Bjarnhéðinn Guðlaugsson & David M. Ingram & R. Camilla Thomson, 2022. "Weighting Key Performance Indicators of Smart Local Energy Systems: A Discrete Choice Experiment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-17, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Iztok Podbregar & Goran Šimić & Mirjana Radovanović & Sanja Filipović & Damjan Maletič & Polona Šprajc, 2020. "The International Energy Security Risk Index in Sustainable Energy and Economy Transition Decision Making—A Reliability Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-16, July.
    2. Ifaei, Pouya & Tayerani Charmchi, Amir Saman & Loy-Benitez, Jorge & Yang, Rebecca Jing & Yoo, ChangKyoo, 2022. "A data-driven analytical roadmap to a sustainable 2030 in South Korea based on optimal renewable microgrids," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    3. Domenico Morrone & Rosamartina Schena & Danilo Conte & Candida Bussoli & Angeloantonio Russo, 2022. "Between saying and doing, in the end there is the cost of capital: Evidence from the energy sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 390-402, January.
    4. Hocine, Amine & Kouaissah, Noureddine & Bettahar, Samir & Benbouziane, Mohamed, 2018. "Optimizing renewable energy portfolios under uncertainty: A multi-segment fuzzy goal programming approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(PA), pages 540-552.
    5. Li, Mengdi & Han, Chuanfeng & Meng, Lingpeng & Liu, Pihui, 2025. "Spatiotemporal dynamics and factors of renewable energy mismatch in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    6. Magdalena Krysiak & Aldona Kluczek, 2021. "A Multifaceted Challenge to Enhance Multicriteria Decision Support for Energy Policy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    7. Indre Siksnelyte & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Dalia Streimikiene & Deepak Sharma, 2018. "An Overview of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods in Dealing with Sustainable Energy Development Issues," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-21, October.
    8. Jamal, Taskin & Urmee, Tania & Shafiullah, G.M., 2020. "Planning of off-grid power supply systems in remote areas using multi-criteria decision analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    9. Mohammed Alghassab, 2023. "A Computational Case Study on Sustainable Energy Transition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-18, July.
    10. Aleksandra Matuszewska-Janica & Dorota Żebrowska-Suchodolska & Agnieszka Mazur-Dudzińska, 2021. "The Situation of Households on the Energy Market in the European Union: Consumption, Prices, and Renewable Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-21, October.
    11. Andrei Cristian Rada & Sabina Irimie & Sabin Ioan Irimie, 2018. "Economic, Energetic, and Environmental Impact Evaluation of the Water Discharge Networks from Mining Works," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, January.
    12. Corinna Salzer & Holger Wallbaum & Luis Felipe Lopez & Jean Luc Kouyoumji, 2016. "Sustainability of Social Housing in Asia: A Holistic Multi-Perspective Development Process for Bamboo-Based Construction in the Philippines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-26, February.
    13. Alberto Romero-Ania & Lourdes Rivero Gutiérrez & María Auxiliadora De Vicente Oliva, 2021. "Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis of Sustainable Urban Public Transport Systems," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(16), pages 1-30, August.
    14. Iram Parvez & Jianjian Shen & Ishitaq Hassan & Nannan Zhang, 2021. "Generation of Hydro Energy by Using Data Mining Algorithm for Cascaded Hydropower Plant," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-28, January.
    15. Sam Hamels, 2021. "CO 2 Intensities and Primary Energy Factors in the Future European Electricity System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-30, April.
    16. Szántó, Richárd, 2012. "Több szempontú részvételi döntések a fenntarthatósági értékelésekben. A legnépszerűbb módszerek összehasonlítása [Participatory multi-criteria decision analysis. A comparison of methodologies]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1336-1355.
    17. Klein, Sharon J.W. & Whalley, Stephanie, 2015. "Comparing the sustainability of U.S. electricity options through multi-criteria decision analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 127-149.
    18. Iztok Podbregar & Goran Šimić & Mirjana Radovanović & Sanja Filipović & Polona Šprajc, 2020. "International Energy Security Risk Index—Analysis of the Methodological Settings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-15, June.
    19. Buchmayr, A. & Verhofstadt, E. & Van Ootegem, L. & Sanjuan Delmás, D. & Thomassen, G. & Dewulf, J., 2021. "The path to sustainable energy supply systems: Proposal of an integrative sustainability assessment framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    20. Mihai Dinu & Simona Roxana Pătărlăgeanu & Radu Petrariu & Marius Constantin & Ana-Mădălina Potcovaru, 2020. "Empowering Sustainable Consumer Behavior in the EU by Consolidating the Roles of Waste Recycling and Energy Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-24, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3261-:d:517789. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.