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Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria for the investment projects of the Energy and Biomass Project are the following:

  • Community’s institutional capacity and motivation to implement a biomass heating project in public institutions
  • Sufficient number of end beneficiaries according to the capacity of the institution’s premises
  • Capacity to mobilize the community and local resources to cover at least 15% of the total project investments in villages and 20% in small towns
  • Technical feasibility of the premises where the biomass-fired heating system will be installed
  • The institution applying for a biomass heating project must not be connected to the district heating system
  • The existing interior heating system is efficient and operational
  • Capacity of the community to supply sufficient quality biomass fuel to the beneficiary institution
  • Storage capacity for briquettes and pellets compliant with the storage requirements, availability of appropriate storage premises
  • 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 to handle the biomass-fired heating system to ensure its sustainability.

The communities that meet all the eligibility criteria will qualify for the nest selection phase.

Selection Committee

The role of the selection committee of the Energy and Biomass Project is to review and approve the project proposals for installation of biomass-fired heating systems in rural communities. Its members represent the following institutions:

  • Ministry of Economy
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry
  • Ministry of Regional Development and Constructions
  • Ministry of Education
  • Energy Efficiency Agency
  • Energy Efficiency Fund
  • EU Delegation to Moldova
  • UNDP Moldova
  • Energy and Biomass Project Moldova

The selection committee has the following key duties:

  • To evaluate, classify and pre-select the letters of intent to install modern biomass-fired heating systems received from interested communities
  • To evaluate the project applications short-listed for the final evaluation stage
  • To conduct the final evaluation and approve the investment projects
  • To ensure transparency of the selection and approval process of investment projects
  • To ensure synergy and interconnection of the activities carried out by the key players in the sector (relevant ministries, Energy Efficiency Agency, regional development agencies, MSIF and others)

Selection Stages:

Stage 1: Letter of intent

The first step that a community should do towards receiving EU funding is to send a letter of intent (a letter template with explanations is available here)

Complete Letter of Intent (a letter template with explanations is available here)

Scrisoarea de intenţie

Stage 2: Project application

The community needs to establish a local project committee, the members of which will be representatives of local governments, of the public institution that intends to shift to biomass-fired heating, local NGOs, the local private sector and leaders.

The local committees will draft project proposals for installation of biomass-fired heating systems (and, if appropriate, solar collectors) in the selected public institutions. To do this, they will receive assistance from the engineers and experts in community mobilization of the Energy and Biomass Project.

The project proposal package will include the documents listed here. The selection committee of the Energy and Biomass Project will review the application package and short-list the communities that qualify for the final evaluation stage.

Stage 3: Assessment of the premises’ energy performance

The measures aimed to increase the energy efficiency of premises can reduce the energy costs by up to 50%. For this reason, the premises with higher energy efficiency will get a higher rating.

The Energy and Biomass Project experts will assess the energy performance of the selected premises and will recommend the technical parameters of the renewable energy technology and improvements to the energy efficiency of the selected premises.

Stage 4: Approval of investment projects

The final evaluation of the applications for funding will consider the following issues:

  • mobilization of local financial resources,
  • capacity to supply an appropriate amount of biofuel,
  • technical and energy feasibility of the selected premises to be connected to bioenergy and solar energy heating systems,
  • proper estimation of the project budget.