The current “Energy Efficiency and Renewable Sources” Fund should be transformed into a National Fund for Decarbonization, with the funds from which to finance the rehabilitation of the housing stock, energy efficiency and construction of building renewable energy sources. This is foreseen by a proposal by the Ministry of Energy for public discussion of amendments to the Law on Energy Efficiency, before their approval by the Council of Ministers and their submission to the Parliament for a vote.
The National Decarbonization Fund will be the main financial instrument to support the renovation of the building stock in the country. It will adapt the available financial instruments or structure additional ones if necessary, the department’s announcement states.
Last week in Parliament, Energy Minister Rumen Radev said that the Decarbonization Fund, which is a requirement of Brussels under the national plan for recovery and sustainability, will be launched with the available approximately BGN 10 million in the Energy Efficiency Fund, but it will also include funds from energy saving from municipal street lighting, financed by European funds. The first municipalities that will receive money for energy-efficient street lighting are already clear, with the total amount of money under the scheme being BGN 62.5 million. However, one of the requirements is that they return half of the funds provided to them in the following years through the saved lighting bills.
Thus, in the new fund, permanent revenues are guaranteed, which will be reinvested in energy efficiency – in this case through renovation. Separately, funds from European structural and investment funds are also expected to enter the fund, the published legal amendments provide in support of Radev’s words from last week that financial mechanisms will be sought to secure additional funds in the Decarbonization Fund from loans or credit lines from European financial institutions.
It is planned to include “targeted funds from the state budget”, but at the moment it is not clear whether there will be any.
The parliament is trying to oblige the regional minister to find BGN 2.6 billion to fully finance all submitted applications for remediation in the recovery plan procedure. It was divided into two stages. The first, with a budget of BGN 1.2 billion for 100% coverage of private owners’ costs for the renovation of their homes, ended with over 3,000 submitted projects and 770 approved. million BGN, and more than BGN 282 million have been set aside from the recovery plan, which means that once again a small number of projects will qualify. GERB wants to ensure completely free remediation for all those who have applied so far. “We continue the change” show a tendency to accept this, and Finance Minister Asen Vasilev even suggests that 480 million euros from the European funds earmarked for the development of the electricity and gas transmission network be diverted to rehabilitation. However, this met with Radev’s resistance.
According to him, the remediation should be done with money from the now created Decarbonization Fund and the property owners should even be offered favorable state-guaranteed loans to cover the costs of the energy renovation of their homes.
Only in this way will the objectives of the Long-term National Strategy to support the renewal of the national building stock of residential and non-residential buildings be achieved until 2050, the department states.
The decarbonization fund will prioritize financing not only projects to increase the energy efficiency of buildings, but also to use energy from renewable sources in the final energy consumption in residential and public buildings, as well as those of commercial companies.
With the proposed amendments, an easier and faster administrative procedure for entering the persons who carry out the energy efficiency survey, the certification of buildings, the preparation of assessments for compliance of investment projects and for energy savings, etc., is introduced in the register.
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