The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is launching a new Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) in Montenegro that will provide loans to households for energy efficiency improvements.
Crnogorska Komercijalna Banka (CKB), a member of the OTP Group, has signed up as the first partner financial institution in the country with a credit line of 2 million euro for on-lending to homeowners. The investments will help to make households more energy efficient, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve living standards.
“We are pleased that Montenegro has joined the GEFF family and that Montenegrin citizens will now have access to well-structured finance and incentive grants for investments that will contribute to improving the energy efficiency of their homes,” said Jaap Sprey, EBRD Head of Montenegro. “Strengthening green economy with investments in renewables and energy efficiency is one of the key priorities of the EBRD in Montenegro and we are happy that together with the EU, Austria and other donors we are contributing to building a greener future in the country.”
“We are delighted to be the first bank in Montenegro to join the GEFF programme and to foster green lending in the country,” commented Pál Kovács, CEO of CKB. “With the EBRD as a partner, we will support our clients with incentivised credit lines for energy efficiency investments in their homes to make them more cost-efficient and comfortable.”
The financing is part of a larger 135 million euro GEFF programme for the Western Balkans, implemented under the umbrella of the Regional Energy Efficiency Programme for the Western Balkans (REEP Plus), funded by the EU.
“Increasing energy efficiency is at the core of EU’s Energy Union: it enhances energy security while decreasing CO2 emissions, boosts innovation and creates jobs in the energy sector,” added Herman Spitz, Head of Cooperation Section from the EU Delegation in Montenegro. “Montenegro is joining this important effort and the EU is supporting the country in return. We have dedicated 30 million euro to support energy efficiency investments in the Western Balkans. EU’s support, channelled through the EBRD’s Green Economy Facility, will help Montenegrin citizens improve the energy efficiency of their homes.”
Homeowners who benefit from financing under the programme will also be eligible to apply for an EU grant for up to 20 per cent of their investment. Households installing energy efficiency solutions such as double-glazed windows or new boilers can also access financing under the programme.
Households can select the technologies they wish to invest in by using the Technology Selector, an on-line catalogue of pre-approved energy-efficient equipment available on the Montenegrin market. The catalogue includes items such as thermal insulation, double-glazed windows, high-efficiency boilers, heat pumps, solar collectors/solar water heaters and photovoltaic systems.
To date, around 7,000 households in the Western Balkans have improved their energy efficiency thanks to GEFF with investments in projects that contributed to a reduction of over 10,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year, equivalent to removing 6,000 cars from the street.
