For Better Energy Efficiency:  Kosovo Energy Efficiency Fund

By Fillojetë Konjuhi Gjoci, Public Relations Specialist at KEEF 

Since its establishment, the Kosovo Energy Efficiency Fund (KEEF)  has rapidly developed by offering high-quality professional services to achieve ambitious energy efficiency goals by retrofitting measures. Considering that the building sector is the highest energy consumer in Kosovo, KEEF has focused on building renovations with energy efficiency measures, to decrease the energy demand for heating and cooling. 

Initial projects were focused on the public sector at the municipal level where, through a guarantee of EUR 20 million from the European Union, the World Bank and the Government of Kosovo, KEEF implemented energy efficiency projects for the first time in Kosovo. These projects were part of the return scheme under Agreements for Energy Services with the municipalities, where the repayment is based on energy savings but does not exceed a period of 15 years.

In the public sector, KEEF has conducted two public calls, inviting all interested municipalities in the Republic of Kosovo to improve the energy efficiency of their public buildings and street lighting systems. In these two calls, 24 municipalities applied, with a total of 184 sub-projects, of which 150 have signed agreements to begin the projects. Of these 150 sub-projects, detailed energy audits and technical projects have been developed for 86, for which the implementation began in March 2022. So far, EE measures for 83 sub-projects have been implemented entirely until the end of December 2023, and 3 others are still in the implementation phase. Thirty-four other sub-projects are in the process of audit and design and shall start implementation in 2024, based on the available funds.

On the other hand, through the IPA program (EUR 20 million), KEEF launched an emergency project to invest in energy efficiency measures in the residential sector, specifically targeting household buildings and in social multi-apartment buildings owned by municipalities. 

For each of these two pillars, a EUR 10 million from the EU Grant has been allocated to KEEF by the Government of Kosovo. 

Implementation of Energy Efficiency Measures in Households (10 million) – Grant 45% (or 50% in case the house is owned or co-owned by a woman) of the total investment maximum limit of EUR 5,500. 

By the end of 2023, there had been 3321 applications for EE retrofitting of individual houses. Of these, 2150 cases were pre-approved, 142 were rejected, and 19 were withdrawn from the applicants themselves. Additionally, 1010 cases remain on the waiting list, which will be processed once the regular cases have been disbursed and based on the remaining funds. To date, more than 1811 applications have been disbursed, meaning the applicants have completed the energy efficiency investments in their houses, totalling EUR 6,263,050.00. Currently, 240  applications from the waiting list are being processed with energy auditing conducted by companies contracted by KEEF.

The second call for EE retrofitting of individual houses was published on 26 July and remained open for a month. 1332 applications were received for this call, of which 1296 were qualified with energy audit reports. Of these, 1237 cases have been pre-approved, 43 of them have been rejected and 16 have been withdrawn from the applicants, while 868 cases are on a waiting list. The overall value for 1237 applications is EUR 4,655,709.13. To date, over 240 requests for disbursement have been received, and these requests are being processed by the verification companies contracted by KEEF.

Implementation of energy efficiency measures in multi-apartment social buildings owned by municipalities covers a 10 million Euro investment. 

For the implementation of energy efficiency measures in multi-apartment social buildings owned by municipalities, KEEF opened a public call in April 2023. The Fund received applications from 15 municipalities in Kosovo for 39 multi-residential social buildings. Of these, 29 multi-residential social buildings from 13 municipalities have been approved for audit and design. One building was excluded due to the instability of the structure following an evaluation by the contracted company. The energy audit and detailed designs for all 28 multi-apartment social housing buildings have been completed. Construction companies have been selected for 22 buildings, and contracts will be finalised within a week’s time. For the remaining 6 buildings, companies have been selected, and we are waiting for the final closure of the selection process, hoping that there will not be complaints by the companies.