September 1 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Thursday it will provide a 20 million euro ($22.4 million) loan to support energy efficiency projects in Bulgaria's residential sector.
The loan will be accompanied by a 4.4 million euro grant, provided by Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF).
The funding provided by the EBRD is a follow-up of the Residential Energy Efficiency Credit Line (REECL) programme, which has distributed loans totalling 83 million euro and 20.2 million euro of grants in Bulgaria since 2005, the bank said in a statement.
As a result of the improvements in energy efficiency in the residential sector, the programme has been saving more than 236,856 MWh of power annually. At the same time, the carbon emissions associated with residential energy consumption decreased by 247.4 tonnes a year, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 27,320 households in Bulgaria.
The REECL programme will now expand the scope of financed activities by funding advanced technologies such as photovoltaic systems, ventilation systems, substations and building gasification systems and energy-efficient elevators.
KIDS, which was set up under a framework agreement between the EBRD and the Bulgarian government, assists in the necessary restructuring, upgrading and modernisation of the energy production, transmission and distribution sectors as well as in improving energy efficiency.
($=0.8937 euro)