Renewable energy receives additional funding

The Central Bank (BDL) is signing an agreement tomorrow, October 30, with the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to grant funds to the Small Decentralized Renewable Energy Power Generation Project (DREG).

This program was launched in September 2015 by the UNDP and a dedicated international organization, Global Environment Facility. The DREG has three goals: “Grants and technical assistance of up to 25 percent of the value of a proposed renewable energy project,” said Jil Amine, DREG Project Manager. The second objective is to conduct a number of studies on the technical, legal, regulatory, and administrative levels. The third objective of the program is awareness raising and capacity building. The funding ceiling per project is $150,000.

The value of the funds granted by the BDL is $700,000. The total project sum is $1.6 million. Beneficiaries could be companies or individuals.

“This agreement is to set the mechanism through which funds will flow from the UNDP to the Central Bank, which will disburse them to interested parties,” he said. All banks that receive National Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Action (NEEREA) loan applications will be able to tap these funds.

The funds will be sufficient for around ten projects, according to Amine.