23.11.2023
Kosovo: Energy for the transition
Kosovo is making it more attractive to invest in renewable energies – with funding programmes for private individuals and companies.
Modern and efficient heating technology, renewable energy expansion and building insulation – this is Kosovo’s formula to combat energy shortages. Buildings account for 40 per cent of the country’s energy consumption, which is two to three times more than the European Union (EU) average. The Government has therefore launched an extensive range of funding programmes designed to accelerate the required energy transition and cushion the impact of economic and social hardship.
One of the subsidy packages is aimed at private individuals. This will ease the burden on families that are economically worse off, providing financial support to households to install heat pumps, heat converters and biomass-fuelled stoves and boilers. The programme has proved very popular and has benefited around 9,000 families so far. Almost 14,000 applications were submitted in a second round of tenders. A further 4,900 families will now also receive grants for efficient fridges, dishwashers and washing machines.
Additional funding is being provided by the Kosovo Energy Efficiency Fund (KEEF). This fund offers financial incentives for people to save energy by insulating building façades. The potential is huge, since most of the country’s buildings are unrendered. More than 3,000 people have already submitted applications.
Small and medium-sized enterprises are also receiving money, for example, for environmentally friendly equipment and solar power systems.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH helped to draw up the funding criteria on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). GIZ has been working with Kosovo on the topic of energy for many years. With support from GIZ, the Government drafted its first national energy and climate plan, for example, which means that Kosovo now meets a key requirement of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Minister of Economic Affairs Artane Rizvanolli describes the nature of the cooperation: ‘GIZ is a long-standing and reliable partner. We benefit greatly from their expert advice, whether that’s regarding the national energy strategy or the design of funding instruments’.
