The Moldovan Residential Energy Efficiency Fund will be used to thermally insulate apartment buildings and individual houses so as to reduce energy consumption and energy costs, said the director of the Energy Efficiency Agency Ion Muntean. According to him, the dwellers’ contribution will be determined as a result of an energy audit and will be recovered in 4-5 years, IPN reports.
The authorities aim to use the Residential Energy Efficiency Fund to implement a broad program to thermally insulate buildings, roofs, ceilings, basements. Thad program is intended both for blocks and individual houses and the dwellers’ investment will represent about 30% of the costs.
“We have a draft Government decision that we are discussing with the development partners and that will be proposed for public debates. It goes to the Government decision on the creation of the Residential Energy Efficiency Fund. This way, both the associations of dwellers or multistory apartment buildings and the individual houses will be offered financing so as to improve energy efficiency. We already identified 25 associations of dwellers for which we will conduct an energy audit during the next two months. The energy audit will show how much can be saved on energy bills and during what period the investments can be recouped. After the energy audit is carried out, the general assembly of dwellers will be convened to analyze the audit and to decide if such a project holds interest for them. The beneficiaries’ contribution of about 30% of the total value of the project is one of the conditions for obtaining financing from the Fund. The contribution should be recovered in 4-5 years,” Ion Muntean stated in the program “Freedom Territory”.
Energy experts welcome the authorities’ energy efficiency program and say that as a result of the thermal insulation of buildings, the people will pay less for energy and will maintain the same level of thermal comfort in dwellings.
“The thermal insulation of the block implies the maintenance of the building. Furthermore, the thermal insulation of the block is also efficient in summer. In summer the people turn on the air conditioning systems to cool the apartments, while the thermal insulation maintains both heat and coolness in the dwelling. Energy efficiency enables to reduce costs for heat, but the same level of thermal comfort is maintained,” said the expert of the Alliance for Energy Efficiency and Renewables Piotr Comarov.
According to estimates, over €10 billion is needed to improve the energy efficiency of Moldova’s residential sector. The planned measures are expected to reduce energy costs by 45%.
