A new type of Energy EXIKONOMO KATIKON program will combine five different sources of funding planned by the Ministry of Environment and Energy from 2021.

New type of EXIKONOMO KATIKON program

Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες από αρμόδιες πηγές, το νέο πρόγραμμα θα περιλαμβάνει:

• Subsidies from the NSRF or other Community sources
• Bank loans,
• Private participation of the owners of the buildings,
• Tax exemptions and
• The contribution of the so-called enforcement regime, under which energy suppliers (and henceforth also distribution network operators, i.e. HEDNO and the Gas Distribution Companies) will have to - in accordance with Community legislation - make investments and achieve specific energy saving targets.

The new elements in terms of funding that differentiate the new programme from the existing one are the tax exemptions for the energy upgrade works of buildings which were introduced for the first time this year and may be revised. It is also the enforcement scheme under which energy companies are required to implement investments that lead to a reduction in energy consumption for their customers. Ως τώρα οι υποχρεώσεις των επιχειρήσεων περιελάμβαναν κυρίως ενημερωτικές δράσεις εκπαίδευσης των καταναλωτών, οδηγών κλπ. για τα οφέλη και τις τεχνικές της εξοικονόμησης. Με το νέο καθεστώς θα κληθούν να κάνουν επενδύσεις που μπορεί για παράδειγμα να περιλαμβάνουν αντικατάσταση καυστήρων σε πολυκατοικίες, εγκατάσταση κεντρικής θέρμανσης με φυσικό αέριο, εργασίες μόνωσης, κ.α.

Objectives of a new programme

In addition, the new Energy Saving Program will be addressed to a much wider audience than the existing one, as it is planned based on the goal included in the national energy planning, to upgrade by 2030 more than one sixth (15%) of the existing buildings.

Εκτός από την προστασία του περιβάλλοντος και την επίτευξη των στόχων για μείωση των εκπομπών διοξειδίου του άνθρακα, η εξοικονόμηση ενέργειας συνεπάγεται άμεσο όφελος για τους χρήστες των κτιρίων) καθώς μειώνεται ο λογαριασμός για το ρεύμα τα κοινόχρηστα κλπ.) καθώς και για τα επαγγέλματα της οικοδομής που συνδέονται με τις εργασίες αναβάθμισης. Σύμφωνα με το Εθνικό Σχέδιο για την Ενέργεια και το Κλίμα (ΕΣΕΚ), η βελτίωση της ενεργειακής απόδοσης του κτιριακού́ αποθέματος αναμένεται έως το 2030 να οδηγήσει σε αύξηση της εγχώριας προστιθέμενης αξίας κατά 8 δισ. ευρώ και στη δημιουργία 22.000 νέων θέσεων εργασίας πλήρους απασχόλησης.

The general framework of the new programme has recently been described by the Minister of Environment and Energy Kostis Hatzidakis stressing that the funds for energy saving in the next programming period (new NSRF 2021-2027) They are set to increase dramatically, to EUR 500 million per year compared to EUR 1 billion which was the total of funds allocated to the current 2014-2020 programming period.

New savings programs in buildings

Moreover, as the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Gerasimos Thomas mentioned in presenting the NECP, to the Committees on Production and Trade and Environmental Protection of the Parliament, in the second quarter of the year two savings programs will run in buildings. It is about the "ELECTRA" program for energy upgrade of public buildings (which was redesigned so that the interventions are financed by the institutions themselves but also by Energy Service Companies, in order to mobilize private resources) as well as the corresponding programme for industry. In the same time horizon, another notice is expected for residences. It has not been decided, however, whether the housing programme will be announced with the specifications in force until now, or whether pilot elements from the programme planned for the new period 2021-2027.