The Energy and Biomass Project invites rural communities to apply for EU funding to connect their public facilities to biomass heating systems. In the application package, the local governments will propose the public institutions they would like to switch to biomass heating. The communities that will propose kindergartens or healthcare facilities, besides applying for a biomass heating system, may also apply for installation of solar water heating collectors.

Interested villages should submit letters of intent via the email tatiana.craciun@undp.org by July 20, 2016. The letters of intent will be reviewed by the Energy and Biomass Project Selection Committee, made of representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, Ministry of Education, Energy Efficiency Agency, EU Delegation and UNDP Moldova.

This will be done based on the following criteria:

• Motivation and institutional capacity of the community to implement a biomass heating project in public entities;
• Capacity to mobilize the community and local resources to cover at least 15% of the total project investments in villages;
• Technical feasibility of the premises where the biomass-fired heating system will be installed;
• Capacity of the community to supply sufficient quality biomass fuel to the beneficiary institution and availability of storage capacity meeting the storage requirements;
• Involvement of the community in the development of the Project Application and cost estimation;
• Timely submission of the Final Project Proposal for approval;
• Employment of motivated staff for the biomass-fired heating system to ensure the sustainability of the heating system.

The communities that meet all these eligibility criteria will qualify for the next selection stage. In total, there are four selection stages, each requiring the approval of the project selection committee.

„For the second project phase, in response to the increased interest from rural communities, we decided that they should also be given the opportunity to benefit from EU funds. We are pleased to see that our previous beneficiaries would like to connect more public facilities to biomass heating systems and that new communities are willing to switch to the energy produced in Moldova”, says Tatiana Craciun, community mobilization officer of the Energy and Biomass Project.

The three – year EUR 9.41 million Energy and Biomass Project II started in 2015 with European Union funding and is implemented by the United Nations Development Program. It is an extension of the first phase of the project implemented from 2011 to 2014 with a total budget of 14.56 million EUR provided by the European Union (14 million EUR) and UNDP (560 000 EUR).

With the support of the Energy and Biomass Project more than 150 communities have already connected their public facilities to biomass heating systems.

Download the press-release in Russian.