EU Bank supports implementation of Municipal Energy Efficiency Programme
Alshaheen News
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Cities and Villages Development Bank (CVDB) have signed a Technical Assistance cooperation agreement of EUR 1.4 million grant to support the implementation of the CVDB – Municipal Energy Efficiency Programme, an important initiative that seeks to invest in energy efficiency across Jordanian Municipalities.
A statement by the EIB on Wednesday said that the advisory services are complementary to the EUR 45 million EIB loan provided to the CVDB in October last year. The services will include conducting needed technical studies, development of the pipeline of sub-projects of the programme and supporting its management.
“The project’s pipeline will include sub-projects that improve municipal services buildings and lighting infrastructure throughout Jordan, the refurbishment and energy efficiency upgrade of public buildings and the installation of solar panel facilities on buildings, solar farms and public lighting investments” the statement added, noting that the Bank’s support to the project comes through a grant under the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI), which is designed to strengthen EU Southern Neighbouring countries’ ability to address key challenges.
The Municipal Energy Efficiency Programme is in line with the current EU-Jordan partnership Priorities and Compact, especially the objectives of “a sustainable use and management of natural resources”. The programme will contribute to the objective of developing energy efficiency and renewable energy investments to attain reduction of energy use by 20%, and improve contribution of renewables in electricity generation to 15%.
Dario Scannapieco, Vice President of the Bank commented on the signature: “EIB, the Bank of the European Unions is a longstanding partner to Jordan. We are happy to complement our financing to the Municipal Energy Efficiency Programme with advisory services to facilitate and support our Jordanian partners in the successful implementation of the programme.”
The EU’s Ambassador to Jordan, H.E. Maria Hadjitheodosiou, welcomed the continued cooperation between the EIB and the Cities and Villages Development Bank. She highlighted that the advisory services that will be provided via this cooperation agreement are fully aligned with and reinforce the EU’s partnership agreement with Jordan.
Osama Al-Azzam the DG of CVDB added that this grant will provide consultancy and Technical support services that will contribute to the implementation of the project in accordance with best practices and for the interest of Jordanian municipalities in order to reduce the electric energy bill and reduce the financial burdens on the municipalities.
