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Boosting energy efficiency in the Slovak Republic
Bohunice International Decommissioning Fund provides €10 million for investments
The Bohunice International Decommissioning Fund is providing €10 million for investments to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings in the Slovak Republic. The grant agreement was signed by Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek for the Slovak Government, Martin Vavrinek, General Director of the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency, and EBRD Vice President Horst Reichenbach. The EBRD is administering the Bohunice International Decommissioning Fund.
Under the agreement funds will be made available to finance modernisation and refurbishment works of public buildings to improve their energy balance. As a first step an energy audit will be made to assess the scope of potential savings which will serve as a blueprint for the measures to be taken. Eligible buildings include hospitals, schools or municipal cultural centres.
Among the measures that will be financed under the project are insulation or change of old thermal insulation of roofs, floors or external walls; replacement or adjustments of windows; improvement of the ventilation system; rehabilitation of heating substations; improvements in the utilisation of heating and hot water systems; and improvement of air conditioning systems.
The Slovak Republic has significant potential for improvements in energy efficiency and renewable energy. The energy intensity of the Slovak economy is 3.75 times higher than the EU-25 average in nominal terms.
Last year the EBRD launched a €60 million energy efficiency financial framework for the Slovak Republic which is being complemented by a €15 million grant from the Bohunice International Decommissioning Support Fund.
The EBRD-managed fund finances and co-finances projects to support the decommissioning of units 1 and 2 of the Bohunice nuclear power plant, which the Slovak Republic has agreed to close by 2006 and 2008, respectively, and measures to improve the energy safety of the country. Donors to the fund are European Community, Austria, Denmark, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
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