Representatives of banks were familiarized with the concept of the Residential Energy Efficiency Fund whose goal is to reduce the energy bills for households through massive investments to improve the energy efficiency of homes. The future fund will be equally fuelled through the financial obligations scheme, external grants and the direct contribution of home owners, or with own funds or money borrowed from banks, or transfers from the Energy Venerability Reduction Fund, depending on the available amounts and the social category, IPN reports.
In a press release, the Ministry of Energy said the financial obligations scheme is at the last stage of formalization and envisions that a particular percentage of the revenues of energy sector operators, including those working on the oil products market, will be redirected to the Residential Energy Efficiency Fund. The money will be used to rehabilitate both public buildings and individual homes or apartment buildings.
In total, according to the first estimates, over €10 billion is needed to improve the energy efficiency of the residential sector. The planned works are expected to decrease the bills by 45%. Ion Muntean, director of the Energy Efficiency Agency, said the first 20 blocks will start to be repaired in 2024. These are the blocks in which the internal vertically oriented heat pipes were replaced with horizontally oriented heat pipes, which enable to regulate the temperatures for each apartment through the stairs meter. In the case of pilot projects, a series of functional associations of dwellers will be included. The program will consist of such works as the thermal insulation of the building, the roof, the ceiling, basement isolation and other works in common use places. The Energy Efficiency Agency will formulate minimum requirements concerning the quality and permitted materials so that the results of works last longer.
Minister of Energy Victor Parlicov asked the members of the Moldovan Banks Association to be more disposed to finance energy efficiency programs, suggesting that these programs should be formalized in the name of such energy service operators as Termoelectrica and CET Nord as the representatives of the financial system are skeptical about having contractual relationships with associations of dwellers.
The representatives of banks mentioned the unsuccessful experience of the past, when the Chisinau Municipal Council guaranteed such loans in the case of particular blocks, but the documents were cancelled by courts of law. At the same time, the president of the Moldovan Banks Association Dorel Noroc requested that the authorities should ensure training for the banking sector given that the technologies advance swiftly and also asked that in this case communication should be a constant process.
The sides agreed to return to discussions so as to establish technically how the risks and guarantees for the future energy efficiency projects should be distributed if the beneficiaries do not honor their obligations. According to bankers, such products are considered unsafe and are subject to more restrictive financing rules.
