The first tender contests to select companies that will provide services to optimize the use of energy in public buildings in Chisinau within the ESCO Moldova project will be held this June. The chosen companies will receive US$900,000 in financial assistance from the Loan Guarantee Fund to be used as security for loans, IPN reports.
The “ESCO Moldova Project - Transforming the market for Urban Energy Efficiency in Moldova by introducing Energy Service Companies” is implemented by UNDP and is supported by the Chisinau City Hall. Project manager Nicolae Zaharia said an ESCO is a company that provides integrated financial and technical solutions for achieving energy cost reductions (energy savings), and whose overall compensations are linked to the performance of the implemented solutions. Within the project, there will be selected the buildings where the necessary thermal insulation, window replacement and heating system adjustment works will be performed.
According to Nicolae Zaharia, the contractors will get US$900,000 in financial assistance from the Loan Guarantee Fund, while the Energy Efficiency Fund will offer a grant of US$3 million. The money provided by the project to the companies will be used as security for the released loan. “If the company is selected to implement the project, this will receive both the loan and the guarantee and will thus have sufficient money to implement the project and will repay the loan from the savings,” he stated.
The budget of an EE project will vary between US$50,000 and US$200,000, while the investment recovery period will be between three and five years.
Energy Efficiency Agency director Mihail Stratan said that this year they aim to implement at most five EE projects that will help reduce the value of electricity and heat bills.
The ESCO Moldova project, funded by the Global Environment Facility, has an implementation timeframe of 4 years with a budget of US$1.3 million allocated by the GEF and US$7.615 million allocated as co-financing by project partners. The project objective is to create a functioning, sustainable and effective market of Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) in Moldova.
The main targets to be achieved by the end of the project are: a functional ESCO market with a functional LGF in place; ESCO companies created and consolidated; creation of new investments in EE measures that will lead to long term energy consumption savings and 20 EE projects implemented; better conditions in public and residential buildings in Chisinau.
