The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is raising awareness of the importance of sustainable energy investments in Kosovo with an awards ceremony to recognise particularly effective projects carried out in the country under a new EBRD financing facility.
The EBRD launched its Kosovo Sustainable Energy Projects (KoSEP) framework in October 2013 in response to growing demand for finance for energy efficiency improvements. The €12 million facility extends funds to local partner financial institutions for on-lending to householders and small businesses. It also benefits from additional donor funding provided by the European Union (EU) and Norway.
So far more than €5 million has been provided in over 1,000 projects that range from window insulation to the installation of efficient boilers, biomass-fuelled room heaters or solar water systems.
Together with the EU Delegation in Kosovo and KoSEP, the EBRD will celebrate the best of these projects at its Sustainable Energy Excellence Awards event taking place on 8 October at the Emerald Hotel in Pristina.
The projects have been financed via local partners TEB, Agjencioni për Financim në Kosovë and Kreditimi Rural i Kosoves LLC. By rewarding the best projects, the EBRD is encouraging the use of innovative and sustainable approaches to energy projects.
“The EBRD is pleased to announce its first sustainable energy awards ceremony in Kosovo this year. We would like to thank our donors from the European Union Office in Kosovo and the Government of Norway for their excellent cooperation and support that made this project possible for the first time in the country. It has been a very strong year for energy efficiency improvements with investments of over €5 million but this is only the beginning. We are pleased to see so many good projects, so it will be hard to choose the winners but no doubt the jury will make the right choice,” said Anton Kobakov, Head of the EBRD’s Resident Office in Kosovo.
The KoSEP Sustainable Energy Excellence Awards 2014 incorporate the following categories:
- Best Renewable Energy Project in the Residential Sector
- Best Energy Efficiency Project in the Residential Sector
- Most Comprehensive Sustainable Energy Project in the Residential Sector
- Best Industrial Energy Efficiency Project
- Best Energy Efficiency Project in Small Enterprise
- Best Agricultural Energy Efficiency Project
- Special Awards for Outstanding Commitment in Financing Sustainable EE/RE Projects
