New project to assist households in saving energy and money

25 March - Today, BP and partners launched an innovative project to raise awareness of energy efficiency among Georgian communities and also help them buy energy efficient products. The project is a partnership between international organizations (BP, USAID, Winrock International, EBRD and OSCE) and local Georgian experts and banks, and links to existing efforts to promote energy efficiency in Georgia and other countries.

The programme comprises of two components: raising awareness of the options that will help households reduce energy use or invest in alternative energy sources. This component is being implemented by local NGO, Energy Efficiency Centre Georgia, using practical demonstrations and information.

A mobile information and demonstration unit – the ‘Energy Bus’ – is the key tool that will be used to promote energy saving in a creative way. After today’s official launch, the ‘Energy Bus’ will visit Tbilisi districts and its surroundings and continue its journey to rural communities and major cities across the country.

The second component involves provision of cheaper credit to those households interested in investing in energy efficient solutions. Grants from BP, on behalf of its Co-venturers, will be made available to help households purchase energy efficient products and devices. The loans are being introduced by EBRD and will be available through local banks in Georgia. 

‘We hope our new energy initiative will help Georgian communities improve their knowledge on energy saving options to the benefit of their household income, the environment and the overall economy of Georgia’, said Neil Dunn, General Manager for BP in Georgia.

The Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, Mr. David Tkeshelashvili, expressed his support for the program, ‘I support BP’s new energy initiative in Georgia and we will cooperate with the program implementers through our regional networks. I believe this new initiative is very timely and will help communities save energy and money and improve livelihood’.

US Ambassador John Tefft said, ‘I believe that the Energy Bus project is a model for bringing together key stakeholders to increase awareness of the general public, stimulate investments in and increase access to sources of finance for renewable and efficient technologies’.

OSCE Ambassador Terhi Hakala underlined that the new energy project will support the development of energy security in Georgia.

‘The OSCE is happy to support initiatives which address economic and environmental security issues,’ Ambassador Hakala said.

‘This is a very innovative and practical way to help communities look again at their energy consumption, diversify it, and help save money and the environment,’ she added.

Irakli Mekvabishvili, Acting Head of EBRD’s Georgia Residence Office, said “These loans are part of the first energy-efficiency facility for residential customers provided by the EBRD and other donors. It complements an existing facility, made already available to three Georgian banks, that targets energy efficiency and renewable energy in the corporate sector. The housing sector is an increasing area of priority for the EBRD, but it is also a more challenging one. This new financing, supplemented by the grant from BP and its Co-venturers, provides affordable mechanism for households across the country to improve their energy efficiency and decrease energy related expenditures over the long term” 

Additional information on the Energy Efficiency Programme and its components:

Awareness Component

Energy Bus will be traveling throughout the country to the communities, which can be accessed by a large-sized truck. The representatives of the implementing NGO will be traveling in the bus and engaging with local communities in the following activities:

Consultations to households and small entrepreneurs on alternative energy technologies and energy efficiency - biogas unit, micro HES, solar panel, wind generator, sawdust heater, insulation works, etc.;

Distribution of printed materials, videos and demonstration of working samples of alternative energy devices;

Provision of the information about the availability of subsidized loans for local communities for purchasing alternative energy devices.

Small Loans Component

The main consumers of the small loans will be households and small entrepreneurs, who will be informed about the loan mechanisms by the representatives of the implementing NGO, traveling to the rural communities of Georgia with the Energy Bus. Individual consultations based on the rigorous cost-benefit analysis for each of the project, including their life-time operational costs, will also be provided in the frames of the project. BP Georgia has worked with EBRD on opening of a targeted credit line for the selected participating banks, which are willing to provide micro and small loans to the local communities. Funds of BP and its oil and gas Co-venturers will be provided for covering 15% of the capital expenditure of the loan. The providers of alternative energy products are pre-identified by the consultants of the EBRD based on the quality and price, and the communities will be offered products provided only by eligible companies.

For detailed information on the Energy Bus project, please contact Mr. Giorgi Abulashvili, Director of EEC. (899 97 40 03)