The WB will provide Moldova with a $50 million loan and a $4.5 million grant to implement the STEEM energy efficiency project
In particular, this is provided for by a loan agreement between Moldova and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a member of the World Bank Group, for the implementation of the Sustainable Transition to Energy Efficiency Moldova (STEEM) project, which was signed in Chisinau on August 8, 2024, being ratified by the Moldovan government at a meeting on Wednesday. The total cost of the STEEM project is $54.5 million, of which $50 million will be an IBRD loan to finance investments in energy efficiency projects and $4.5 million will be a technical assistance grant for project implementation, which will be provided by the Moldova-Growth, Resilience and Opportunities for Well-Being (M-GROW) multi-donor trust fund. The loan is for 30 years with a 5-year repayment vacation. The interest rate is floating. The commitment fee is 0.25% and is calculated on the unpaid amount and the one-time fee is 0.25% of the loan amount. Both the loan and the grant will be repaid based on annual work plans developed during the 2024-2029 project. The cost of servicing the loan will come from the state budget. The main objective of the Sustainable Transition to Energy Efficiency Moldova (STEEM) project is to improve the energy efficiency of existing public buildings, including those connected to the district heating system, and to ensure an immediate and efficient response to any emergency situation that may arise in the future. The project will provide energy renovation of 46 schools. In particular, it is planned to insulate walls and roofs, replace windows and doors, upgrade the internal heating system and ensure the efficiency of the lighting system. Heat pumps, solar thermal collectors and photovoltaic panels will also be installed on school roofs. The beneficiaries will be about 46,000 schoolchildren, teachers and other employees of educational institutions. The project also includes improving energy efficiency of the heat supply system in public buildings, including 11 schools, by installing about 250 individual heat points and transferring the heat supply network from the centralized system to an individual one. Emergency response measures will also be implemented. In addition to comfort and infrastructure modernization benefits, the project is expected to provide significant energy savings: in the target buildings, energy consumption will be reduced by about 55% with annual savings of about 550 GWh, representing 1.7% of the total final energy consumption in Moldova. In individual cases, energy savings can reach 60-65% - up to 800 GWh per year. The project will be implemented in 2024-2029 and will be managed by the Consolidated Unit for the Implementation and Monitoring of Energy Projects (UCIPE). // 16.10.2024 - InfoMarket.
