The EBRD is expanding its support for sustainable energy investments in the Slovak Republic with a €20 million loan to Slovenska Sporitelna, a.s. (SLSP), one of the country’s leading banks. The funds will be on-lent to private companies for renewable energy projects and energy efficiency in industry and buildings.
€20 million will be complemented by funding from the Slovak Republic sourced from the proceeds of a carbon credit transaction between the Slovak Republic and Spain. “This is an innovative way of securing grant financing as, for the first time, donor funding for a credit line will be generated by a market-based instrument”, said Jean-Marc Peterschmitt, EBRD Managing Director for Central and South Eastern Europe.
“We highly appreciate this financial facility which can support economic growth in Slovakia through financing of energy efficiency projects,” Vazil Hudak, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, added.
“We would like to thank the EBRD and Spain for the opportunity to sell the Kyoto carbon credits and to continue the highly respected SlovSEFF programme”, stated Vojtech Ferencz, State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic.
The facility will also serve to meet the high demand for energy efficiency among smaller companies and household consumers. The demand for such investments is illustrated by the strong success of the first two phases of SlovSEFF and the continuous interest from local banks to participate in the programme.
SlovSEFF, launched in 2007, to date has supported around 700 sustainable energy investments worth over €190 million. All these projects lead to annual savings equivalent to electricity consumption of households of a city the size of Bratislava.