“The National Development Bank has succeeded in the European Investment Bank programme and gained funding for the Czech Republic for energy saving consultancy. Together with a team of experts, the bank offers not only professional project preparation, but also the opportunity to take advantage of preferential financing under its guarantee and loan programmes. The development of advisory services, not only in the field of energy savings, is part of the transformation of the NRB, acting as a partner of the government for the implementation of its economic strategy,” says Tomáš Nidetzký, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Development Bank.
Interest in the first phase of ELENA advisory exceeded the programme budget several times over. “In the previous period, clients were mainly interested in EPC consultancy. Therefore, we expect considerable interest now and keep recommending that those, who still want to implement energy-saving measures through the frame of EPC, should not hesitate to apply as soon as possible,” says Čestmír Hrdinka, ELENA Programme Coordinator.
The New ELENA consultancy is the first step towards energy savings for public as well as private sector. The projects using the EPC method make it possible to improve the energy efficiency of buildings without high initial investment. “The advantage of the EPC method lies in the combination of favourable and guaranteed achievement of energy savings. Hence, clients will recoup their initial investment in saved costs of energy,” adds Čestmír Hrdinka.
Specifically, through EPC consulting, NRB can help regions, cities, municipalities, or even contributory organizations to cover the costs of the EPC Suitability Analysis of buildings, the preparation of the grant application, and the preparation of the tender documentation for the selection of the company that will implement their project. Regarding companies and entrepreneurs, it will be possible to obtain a preferential loan, for which an energy assessment report is a prerequisite.
The essential condition for using the New ELENA advisory is the reduction of final energy consumption, e.g. projects solving:
| investments related to the building envelope | decentralised renewable energy production |
| cooling systems upgrade | modernisation and reconstruction of existing installations producing the energy for own consumption |
| building lighting systems | modernisation of heat sources and air-conditioning systems |
| connection to energy supplies | installation of indoor or external charging stations for electric vehicles |
| hot water heating systems | high-efficiency micro-cogeneration units |
| building automation and control | public lighting upgrade |
The first wave of the ELENA programme brought investments of CZK 2.3 billion (EUR 92m) in energy savings. During this period, experts secured by the NRB analysed a total of 922 public sector premises, mainly schools and office buildings. In more than 500 of them, energy-saving measures have been implemented or are planned to be implemented. So far, the ELENA advisory has helped to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 24,000 tonnes and save over 40 GWh of energy.
The ELENA programme is co-financed by the European InvestEU Advisory Hub, a financial instrument of the European Investment Bank ELENA (European Local ENergy Assistance).
