Many of you might have heard the news lately – the projects for replacement or completing existing heating systems with renewable solutions (that use solar, wind and geothermal energy) could receive 90% financing from the state. I was very excited at the beginning thinking that finally the Romanian government started to think big and that in this way they are really supporting the market. After digging for more info I realized that there are also few “but” in the whole scheme. I will try to summarize quickly:

Good Points:

1. The subsidy is very big – 90% of the total cost of the project – bigger than in any other European state

2. The access for funding was also open for home owners and association of home owners

3. They are collecting the funds out of the green tax for cars – so the budget won’t be a small one

Not very exciting points:

1. It is a funding stream that is managed by AFM ( Environment Fund Authority) and usually they have very comprehensive procedures for obtaining the funds

2. It is not a subsidy that would apply to anybody automatically; in order to receive money you need to apply for funds

3. The solutions that are to be used in the projects should be bought from authorized distributors; the good news is that the list is still open (for the ones that are interested to be on that list) and it seems that the authorization procedure will be open only in November

4. There are also other types of projects that are funded out of this budget – installing renewable solutions is one priority out of six

Source: Romania Green Building Council