Filenews 3 February 2023
The Guide of the second Grant Scheme for the Energy Upgrade of Residential Buildings, with a budget of €35 million was announced by the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry Natasa Pilides.
This is the second announcement of this Plan for the programming period 2021-2027. The first call for tenders amounting to €35 million was announced in March 2021 and was completed three months later, with the submission of 2,152 applications, in the fully automated system we developed for the sponsorship schemes, says the Minister. She noted that she was pleased to note that the Plan gathers the strong interest of our fellow citizens and pushes for the adoption of permanent and efficient measures that bring huge energy savings with a corresponding reduction in electricity and heating bills.
Essentially, it is a plan that covers up to €32,000 and about 60% of the cost for the energy upgrade, while for vulnerable households and mountainous areas 80% of the cost is covered. The inclusion of mountainous areas in the category of beneficiaries for increased sponsorship is one of the innovations of the new call that was decided in the framework of the Government's policy to support mountain communities.
On the part of the government they expect more interest from the citizens for the second announcement of the plan due to the energy crisis and energy price increases.
Slides in English have not yet been found.
Electronic portal for submissions - English available and Q&A
Details of the project
In front of the "green" energy ministry
At the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, the conversion of older energy-intensive buildings into buildings of high energy efficiency is at the heart of our policy and is one of the pillars of our multidimensional Strategy for a rapid transition to green energy which aims at the sustainable development of the country, citizens and businesses, the Minister noted. Also According to the Long-Term Building Renovation Strategy of the Energy Service, which is under review, the energy saving potential in Cyprus is great, as 91% of all buildings in our country were built before the establishment of minimum energy performance requirements. In fact, it is estimated that in our country housing is responsible for 18% of final energy consumption, while another 12% is due to the buildings that house the business community. As far as new buildings are concerned, we have upgraded the energy performance requirements since 2021 and now the new buildings are almost zero energy consumption.
The other plans and projects that will follow
It is important to mention here that it has been running in parallel for a year, and will be in force until the end of 2023, with another Grant Scheme of our Ministry for Energy Saving and RES amounting to €70 million noted Mrs. Pilides. This Scheme subsidizes, in addition to the installation of photovoltaics and the thermal insulation of the roof, or a combination of the two. Investments that are attracting more than ever the interest of households and businesses due to the energy crisis and the need for access to cheaper electricity. To this end, the government promoted Grant Schemes that reach almost half a billion euros in the decade 2013-2022, exceeding €200 million in the two-year period 2021-2022 and another €85 million is planned for 2023, and in addition, important reforms and projects are being promoted, including:
- The electricity interconnection of Cyprus, Greece and Israel. The EuroAsia Interconnector project has secured a European grant of €657 million. and another €100 million. from the "Cyprus_Tomorrow" Plan.
- The promotion of €80 million Sponsorship Schemes for the development of large projects for the production and storage of green energy.
- The promotion of energy communities for collective production and consumption of clean energy. Relevant regulations from CERA are pending on this issue.
- The modernization of the Support Plan for RES production. Virtual net metering for households and farmers has already been implemented in the last year, which will be extended to commercial and industrial consumers.
- The promotion of the upgrade, modernization and digitization of the transmission network, a project funded with €100 million. from the "Cyprus_Tomorrow_Plan", as well as the financing of smart meters with €35 million.
- The mandatory implementation of energy saving measures in the public sector and the announcement of sponsorship plans for energy upgrading of the public and semi-public sector and schools.
She also mentioned that "with the commitment of the employees to the Ministry, we have managed to redesign and digitize our Sponsorship Schemes facilitating the whole process, while we offer increased sponsorships to all households and almost 100% subsidy to the installation of photovoltaics by vulnerable households, the list of which by decision of the Council of Ministers has been increased from 50 thousand to 80 thousand".
Our energy grid
As a result of our actions, the European targets of the Republic of Cyprus for 2020 have not only been achieved, but also exceeded, stressed the Minister. In 2020, the RES contribution to final energy consumption reached 17% from 13% that was the target, while the mandatory target for cumulative energy savings in final use was achieved at a rate of 135%.
In the last year, and until the end of January 2023, the interest in installing photovoltaics and roof thermal insulation is more than double compared to 2021. Almost three times the number of vulnerable households has applied in 2022 for sponsorship for the installation of photovoltaics compared to the previous year. Cyprus had the fourth largest penetration of photovoltaics in 2022 among the countries of the European Union.
According to the latest statistics we have reached the:
- 15% in the share of electricity generation from RES in 2021 compared to 11.31% in 2019 and 8.3% in 2013 and about 16% in 2022.
- At 18.22% the percentage of RES in final energy consumption in 2021 compared to 12.53% in 2019 and 7.91% in 2013.
- At 600 MW the installed RES capacity until 12/2022, tripling it compared to 2013. In the meantime, another 70 commercial RES projects, with a total capacity of 115 MW, are under implementation.
