The residential energy upgrade programs, “Exikomano”, are starting immediately. Subsidies and without income criteria. What will happen to vulnerable households?
By SISSIS STAVROPIERRAKOU – SOURCE: Realnews
Three residential energy upgrade programs will start “running” in the coming months. The guide of the first “Save”, which will concern only vulnerable households, is expected to go on the digital air at the beginning of September, to be followed by another one that will concern the installation of heat pumps.
Last to be activated is the 2024 big annual ‘Save’ guide, which is expected to be published by the end of the year. The program will apply the system of heating and cooling degree days to calculate energy needs and subsidize energy upgrading projects of buildings, based on the map applied to subsidizing heating oil, so that every neighborhood in the country has its own subsidy rates in “Save”.
The startup
In particular, in the immediate future, the Ministry of Energy will launch a “Save”, with a total budget of approximately 60 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, which will exclusively concern households with low incomes who own a single-family house or apartment and wish to upgrade them energetically. The evaluation of the applications will be done using the “First in, first out” direct process method, that is, based on the order of priority as determined by the date and time of their final submission. The average subsidy is estimated at around 12,500 euros for each beneficiary and will cover interventions such as the installation of insulation, the replacement of frames, etc. In total it is estimated that the program can subsidize 5,000 poor households to upgrade their energy needs and energy costs and improve their living conditions. In the last round of “Save” for vulnerable households, the maximum grant rate was set at 75% in the case of owner-occupation by the applicant and at 65% in the case of free concession to another person or rental, respectively.
However, the participation of vulnerable households in the program was extremely low due to the impossibility of finding the required equity capital, given the reluctance of banking institutions to provide vulnerable social groups with bank loans guaranteed by the State. A natural person who has submitted an application in the 1st and 2nd cycle of the program does not have the right to submit in the 3rd cycle. For a residence for which an application has been submitted in the first and second cycle of the program, it is not allowed to submit an application in the third cycle. For its submission and monitoring of the project, the interested party must use a natural technical consultant, provided that he is an engineer, registered in the register of members or in the book of technical names of the Technical Chamber of Greece, whose fee is covered directly by the program.
Goals
With the targeted program for the installation of heat pumps, the Ministry of Environment and Energy has as its central objective the acceleration of the electrification of residential heating, in the context of the general objectives for the complete electrification of the economy gradually by 2050, in accordance with the guidelines of the European Union , which wants to make the electrification of heating compulsory from 2029. However, for the penetration of new heating systems into the market, a specialized support program will need to be developed. Heat pumps offer significant advantages, but their costs remain high, especially compared to traditional natural gas or oil burners. The price varies depending on the place of residence and the type of heat pump that a consumer will choose. Although many countries offer subsidies to offset initial costs, heat pumps can require a significant initial investment, greater than a natural gas system. The final performance depends on the prices of electricity and natural gas or oil, which vary from country to country.
It should be noted that a heat pump is a system that extracts heat from a space or from the environment and transfers it to someone else. In particular, it is an energy-efficient system that absorbs heat from the ambient air for heating and hot water. It transfers the heat of the ambient air into the house through a water hydraulic system, such as underfloor heating, fan coils and radiator bodies. Its operation is based on the technology that allows the transfer of energy from a low temperature space to a higher temperature space. It is a technology based on the same principles as the mechanism of refrigerators, air conditioners, etc. and is called the cooling cycle. The outside air passes through the heat pump, acquires the desired temperature and is channeled into the interior of the house for central heating and water heating.
However, the recent decision of the European Union to phase out oil and natural gas burners from 2025 has led to important developments. It is estimated that 17% of residential buildings in Greece will cover their heat needs with pumps, with this percentage reaching 91% by 2050. The E.U. systematically promotes the transition to heat pumps, setting clear boundaries for the end of oil and natural gas burners by 2040.
Changes
A substantial change that is expected to greatly expand the range of beneficiaries includes the new “Excoionamo” under preparation, which the Ministry of Environment and Energy is working on and will announce in the autumn. The main change compared to the current corresponding programs is that there will be no income criteria in the new one, which is expected to further open the umbrella for a much larger number of households compared to the past.
Furthermore, the new program will include grading for vulnerable groups, such as the disabled and those with many children, while it will bring a system with the grading days applied to the heating allowance.
Based on the initial planning made by the leaders of the ministry, those who live in areas that have a greater need for heating due to geographical location and climatic conditions, are expected to be subsidized more and have priority. As the responsible minister Theodoros Skylakakis has stated, “the new “Excoionamo” programs, which will come in the fall, will rely much more on the degree day system, which ensures that the investments made will be more efficient in terms of climate performance and real financial performance, because one of the big difficulties we have in “Exkoyonamos” is that there is not enough demand, because the financial performance of the relevant interventions in Greece is much less attractive than in the rest of Europe”.
The system that will be implemented will have as a “pilot” the equivalent that was implemented with the payment of the heating allowance. It should be noted that for the heating allowance, the model that applied last year provided for a 25% increase for beneficiaries who lived in areas with severe cold (degree-day factor of more than 1). Based on the specific differentiation, the program, which will have a higher “ceiling” of costs, as it will support more citizens compared to the past, will be financed in the first phase with 700 million euros from the NSRF and with 170 million euros from REPowerEu.
Also, in the planning of the ministry, the participation-involvement of energy service companies (Energy Service Companies – ESCO) is foreseen, which will facilitate access to financing for households and will provide the owners of the houses with the possibility to gradually repay the cost of the investment.
“Save 2021”: Extension for the completion of works
The Ministry of Environment and Energy has given an extension until October 15, 2024 for the submitted applications of the “Save 2021” program, whose deadline for completion of work expires from July 21 to October 14, 2024. The aim is to facilitate the work of energy inspectors and the beneficiaries in order to smoothly complete the energy upgrading works of the residences.
Read the Realnews article here and here
Source: www.enikos.gr
