Conference on financing energy efficiency on February 1, in Bucharest

Financing energy efficiency in Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria is the title of the conference to be held in Bucharest, Romania, on February 1, 2018, that will serve as a platform for presenting best practices and discussing options of financing energy efficiency investments.

Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria will share their best practices but the conference will host representatives of many other countries that will have their experiences in financing matters shared as well.

According to the organizers’ announcement, the use of private funds and innovative financing instruments, notably in the building and industry sectors, will be among topics. Speakers will focus on practical experiences in developing and structuring investment programs and the event will allow time for debate.

The event is organized by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) in partnership with the Ministry of Energy of Romania, the Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds of Romania, the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority, and the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative.

It is part of the Sustainable Energy Investment Forums contract, funded under the EU Horizon 2020 program. The event contributes to the new cooperation on energy efficiency initiated by the CESEC, it is said.

Some of the topics that are scheduled to be discussed in the European and national policy context panel include: European policy in support of energy efficiency investments, European Structural and Investment Funds, Mobilizing the financial sector on energy efficiency, Financing the future of buildings in Central, Eastern and South-East Europe

Other panels including in the program are: Improving the energy performance of residential buildings, Making energy efficiency investible, Energy renovation of public buildings and the role of ESCOs, Energy efficiency in the industry and SME sectors.

The Energy Union Framework Strategy puts energy efficiency as one of its five dimensions and states it is to be treated as an energy source in its own right. The ambitious Paris climate agreement also underlines the importance of energy efficiency. Investments in energy efficiency have proven to be one of the most cost-effective ways to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.