Workshop on the effectiveness of public investment in energy efficiency

Part of the annual event of National Trust Ecofund, which took place on 2 July in Sofia, was also a professional workshop on the effectiveness of public investments in energy efficiency.

The discussion began with a presentation by representatives of the Executive Bureau of NTEF. They outlined the energy efficiency situation on a European level, the Bulgarian experience in energy efficiency projects, the challenges to public investments in this area and the possible ways to increase the effectiveness of these investments. They noted the need for more flexible financial mechanisms – combining grants with credits and ESCO schemes. In addition to this, the presentation presented an analysis that NTEF conducts in order to evaluate the direct and indirect results of its energy efficiency investment projects. You can find the presentation here.

Part in the discussion took also:

• Petar Seizov from Denkstatt Bulgaria, who presented the Investor Confidence Project – Europe-wide initiative to standardize the process of developing and documenting energy efficiency projects in residential and commercial buildings by providing freely accessible protocols. The presentation about Investment Confidence Project you will find here.
• Ivailo Dukov – Executive director of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Sources Fund – he presented the mechanisms of the Fund for financing ecological energy consumption. The presentation about the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Sources Fund you can find here.
•  Ivailo Aleksiev – Executive director of the Sustainable Energy Development Agency– he presented the mechanism of the trade with white certificates as well as some major challenges and risks in the implementation of energy efficiency projects. His presentation you can find here.
• Kiril Raychev from the Energy Efficiency Alliance – who presented the benefits of creating more flexible financial mechanisms such as the combination of grant schemes and ESCO contracts.His presentation is available here.

Present on the event were also representatives from the municipalities – they shared the need for an individual financial approach that is tailored to the specifics of each municipality as well as the need for investing in capacity building.

Pictures from the workshop you can find in our Gallery.