Damascus-SANA
The Fund to support the use of renewable energies and raise energy efficiency in the Ministry of Electricity has started receiving requests from citizens wishing to benefit from renewable energy projects and raise energy efficiency in the household, agricultural, industrial and economic sectors, including the service and commercial fields.
In a statement to SANA reporter, Zuhair Makhlouf, the fund manager, said that the fund’s events contribute to spreading the culture of renewable energies, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and types of traditional energies, and creating real job opportunities for those interested in this sector, pointing out that the financial value of the fund amounts to 10 billion Syrian pounds to provide support to beneficiaries in the form of loans. Without interest or subsidized interest on loans.
Regarding the mechanism for obtaining an interest-free loan, Makhlouf explained that after the beneficiary submits the papers, the project is studied and the required foundations and standards are applied. The home loan is granted without interest or is done “through the loan interest support program,” subsidizing the interest on a loan with a photovoltaic capability or a wind turbine or both, pointing out that The appropriate location for the project is revealed in the field. If the location is private, it is sufficient to submit a bill for the electricity meter. In the event of collective ownership, the approval of the governorate or the municipal council must be obtained. After that, the fund transfers the beneficiary to the commercial bank to obtain support for its project, so that the bank will study the project according to its laws and regulations on the basis of The agreement that was approved with all public and private banks in Syria.
Makhlouf added: If the beneficiary’s credit status is good, the fund is notified of its lending, so that the beneficiary chooses a qualified company approved by the National Center for Energy Research and working within the framework of renewable energies to implement the project with it under the supervision of the fund. .
He pointed out that any person consuming energy carriers from the private sector can benefit from the Fund's support and does not necessarily have to be an employee, indicating that the Monetary Council of the Central Bank of Syria is the one who sets the minimum interest and the Fund bears it in full.
As for the support of the various sectors with energy projects, Makhlouf stated that for the domestic sector, the Fund authorized the provision of 100% support of the cost of establishing the project, with a loan period of 15 years, with the possibility of having a partner to pay with the beneficiary.
On the agricultural level, the Fund supports any licensed agricultural project or activity, such as pumping water from wells, a fruit cooling unit, a domesticated farmer, or a bio-digester for waste to produce organic gas, where the subsidy is provided with a ceiling capacity of 20 kilowatts and for a period of ten years. In the industrial sector, the subsidy ceiling is 20 kilowatts for a period of five years.
Makhlouf pointed out that there is a loan to provide energy carriers within the industrial, service and commercial sectors, called raising energy efficiency, where a field study is conducted for a plant or facility if there are “wastes of energy” that can be recovered, as we subsidize it at approximately the cost of 50 thousand kilowatt-hours or 12 tons of fuel max.
Makhlouf said, "The technical and economic feasibility study is being prepared by the National Center for Energy Research or any engineering office or engineering companies licensed and allowed to conduct energy services studies, and these studies must be approved and audited by the National Center for Energy Research."
Makhlouf referred to a number of conditions that must be met by the beneficiary of the loan, including that he be of Syrian nationality, enjoying legal capacity, that the age be according to the requirements of the bank he deals with, and that he present the required guarantees in accordance with the agreement that will be concluded between the fund and the bank dealing with him, in addition to submitting an electricity bill for the latest special issue The location of the project and obtaining the approval of the administrative unit to which the property belongs in the event that the place of the project is collective property in addition to submitting a certified document licensing agricultural, industrial and commercial establishments.
As for the entities implementing the projects of the Fund, any workshop, company, engineering office, contractor, or project executing entity can be included in the lists of the National Center for Energy Research, pointing out that the Fund obtains a guarantee from the executing company, whereby about 5% of the project cost is guaranteed for a year. After that, there is an obligatory guarantee signed and paid as after-sales service maintenance to ensure that the system works so that the beneficiary does not bear any financial burden.
Sakina Muhammed
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