Minister Petkova: With the implementation of the projects under Program "Energy efficiency and renewable energy" savings on energy resources will be realized
After the implementation of energy efficiency measures and the introduction of renewable energy for district heating, savings on energy resources will be realized. Thus, the saved financial resources will be directed to other important activities of the municipalities, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said at ceremony of awarding contracts to 32 Bulgarian municipalities and 9 small and medium enterprises under the program BG04 "Energy efficiency and renewable energy". The event was attended by the Ambassador of Norway to Bulgaria Mrs. Guro Katharina Vikør, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in Norway and the Office of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area. Minister Petkova expressed gratitude to the Norwegian partners and confidence that in the next programming period our country will once again successfully work on projects financed by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area.
The contracts signed with 32 Bulgarian municipalities at total amount of 20.5 million BGN are allocated to two measures – the one is for enhancement of energy efficiency, for which the grant is over 11 million BGN, and the other is for renewable energy for district heating in municipal and state buildings, for which the financial aid is 9.4 million BGN. The project provides for the carrying out of activities such as: rehabilitation and replacement of heating installations, gasification of kindergartens, improving energy efficiency in buildings, introduction of renewables for heating and other. Besides these two schemes aimed at public buildings, nearly 3 million BGN are granted to 9 SMEs in Bulgaria for the realization of projects for the construction of facilities that will produce fuels from biomass.
Two municipalities will implement projects on both measures - Sofia Municipality and Municipality Madan, Minister Petkova underlined. She also said that 17 of the 34 contracts will be executed jointly with Norwegian companies. "We rely on the vast experience of the Norwegian partners in the implementation of energy efficiency measures at the sites", the Energy Minister added. According to the Mayor of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova, the funds granted under the program "Energy efficiency and renewable energy" will be used for the realization of the so important green policies.