23.09.2021.
The Fund held an information and education workshop on the energy renovation of houses in Vukovar. The Public Call for the energy renovation of family house was launched on 15 September and met with great interest of the citizens of Vukovar hoping to be successful with their applications.The workshop was attended by interested citizens, energy auditors, and contractors who wanted to learn about the conditions for co-financing and details about the concrete implementation of projects.
The mayor of Vukovar, Ivan Penava, thanked the Fund on their cooperation thus far, expressing his satisfaction with the workshop and his belief that the citizens of Vukovar would be efficient in their applications. “I’m certain that the citizens of Vukovar will successfully apply their projects and renovate their houses to make them prettier to look at and more comfortable to live in. The greatest impetus is a reduction in the costs of energy generation products, but it’s just one of many benefits of energy renovation. As I already said, the façades will also become more appealing, whcih will reflect on the overall look of the town.“
“This call worth 300 million kunas is very significant because it will bring benefits and a better quality of life to everyone and it will stimulate the local economy, meaning we are on the path to a greener future. We have to ensure continuity of this call. We had a 5-year interruption until last year, which caused certain difficulties. Bearing in mind that the we have had an increase in funding this year, I believe there will be more successful applications in general, and I also expect this to reflect on the number of successful applications in Vukovar-Srijem County, so I’m hopeful we will conclude many contracts,” said Siniša Kukić, the director of Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, at the workshop in Vukovar.
Thermal insulation of the building envelope or a comprehensive energy renovation will be co-financed with up to 60% for the houses in the energy category D or lower in continental, or C or lower in coastal Croatia. The funding is also available solely for the use of renewable energy sources, either for the heating systems or electricity generation. However, these funds are available only for the houses in the energy category C or higher, or B or higher in the continental and coastal part of Croatia respectively, the grant amounting to 40, 60 or 80%, depending on the location.
Interested citizens have to create their user accounts so that they could log in, fill in the application form, and upload the necessary documentation on time. The Fund advised the participants who already had the documentation ready and waiting to obtain new quotes from the contractors. They explained that these quotes were only informative, and it was possible to change the contractor later on. On the other hand, documents such as energy audit report and energy performance certificate are valid for several years and it is not necessary to have them drawn up again if there were no additional construction works on the house.
To simplify the application process as much as possible, especially for those who are not very tech-savvy, the Fund will co-finance expert assistance with up to 500 kn, and the amount will be paid together with other energy renovation costs, based on an invoice or service contract.
All participants at the workshop hope their applications for co-financing will be successful. In case their applications are successful, they will have a 24-month period to implement the projects they planned.
