Forty-six schools in the country are to be renovated from an energy point of view within the project “Sustainable Transition to Energy Efficiency in Moldova” (STEEM). For its implementation, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) provides US$54.5 million, of which US$50 million in the form of a loan and US$4.5 million in the form of a grant. The agreement was signed on Thursday at the Ministry of Energy, IPN reports.
Minister Victor Parlicov said that too much energy is consumed or is even wasted in the Republic of Moldova. More precisely, twice as much energy than in the European Union on average is used to heat one square meter of building. Buildings consume over 50% of all the energy in the country, which means that almost a quarter of all the energy consumed in the country is actually wasted.
“It is energy that we mostly import and pay for. Projects like this are designed to produce particular effects, not only from an energy point of view, but also as regards economic growth. With this project, we want to test a new approach to everything that is related to investments in the energy efficiency of public buildings. Today, we pay money for the energy we waste. What we want to do now is to take out long-term loans, with attractive interest rates, to invest in the energy efficiency of public buildings, and to repay the loans from the energy savings we will obtain and following the diminution of exposure to energy imports,” said Victor Parlicov.
According to the minister, the educational institutions were selected together with the Ministry of Education and among them will be the 35 model schools.
World Bank Country Manager for Moldova Inguna Dobraja said that this is the first project in a series of projects that will be financed by donors within the Moldova Energy Efficiency Program. “Buildings account for about 60% of the final energy consumption, and public buildings account for about 20% of this consumption. Beginning with public buildings is a good way to start this process and this is the fastest way,” noted Inguna Dobraja.
The project will be implemented during 2024-2029.
The loan agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was approved by the Cabinet in May this year.
