Financing Energy Renovation in Buildings- availability and accessibility of funding schemes

This guidance was developed under the framework of the project Our Buildings funded by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

 

The project develops capacity and transfers knowledge enabling municipalities and civil society to integrate building renovation strategies in their local and National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), focusing on the target countries of the project, Bulgaria and Romania, which have similar building stocks, characterised by large run-down communist-era blocks and inefficient individual homes, contributing to air pollution and high CO2 emissions.

 

The aim of the project is to enable the target groups to fulfil the Clean Energy Package requirements while creating lasting benefits in the two countries, increase exchange between Romania and Bulgaria and disseminate results in all of South East Europe and create capacity to strengthen National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) as well as support effective governance.

 

The new financial guidance maps available financial schemes for energy efficiency improvements in buildings focussing on accessibility of funding in Romanian and Bulgarian municipalities.

 

Public funding by the European Union Structural and Cohesion Funds are available but have to be channelled successfully through national and regional programmes to speed up energy efficiency investments in residential and public buildings. Additional private finance contributions should be increased to achieve the needed investments, same as innovative instruments, such as green bonds and on-bill schemes. New instruments offer the chance to mobilise additional private resources and improve the needed cooperation between homeowners, utilities and institutional investors.

 

The report is available in English, Romanian and Bulgarian.