EUR 80.586 million to be made available from Recovery Facility for improving companies' energy efficiency and transition to renewable energy technology

RIGA - On Tuesday, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the first support program financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) in Latvia, where companies will be offered funding for improving their energy efficiency and expanding the use of renewable energy technologies.

EUR 80.586 million will be made available from the RRF for the program, including EUR 30.586 million for implementation of energy efficiency improvement measures and EUR 50 million for transition to renewable energy technologies.

The support will be provided to companies as loans by Development Finance Institution Altum (Altum). The maximum loan amount will be EUR five 5 million, and companies will have up to 20 years to repay them.

During the first four weeks, companies that export at least 51 percent of goods or products they manufactures will be able to apply for support, as well as companies whose export volume in the last financial year was at least EUR 1 million.

After the four-week period, most companies registered in Latvia will be able to apply for support.

Support will be provided for improving energy efficiency of non-residential buildings, as well as purchases of energy-efficient production equipment to replace the existing, less energy-efficient equipment.

Financing will also be available for refurbishment, conversion or creation of building engineering systems, recovery of energy from production processes, and introduction of renewable energy technology such as solar panels, wind turbines, biomass and other technologies.

Economics Minister Ilze Indriksone (National Alliance) explains that energy efficiency improvements or use of alternative energy technology require investment. However, due to the geopolitical situation and the extraordinary and unpredictable increase in prices of all major energy resources, it is high time to rethink our energy habits and invest in companies' sustainability.

"Therefore, to help our entrepreneurs remain competitive and boost their productivity, we have prepared a support program that will promote independence from unpredictable fluctuations in energy prices and, at the same time, strengthen Latvia's energy security. The Economics Ministry is launching the first support program under the RRF, which will be accessible to a very wide range of businesses," said the minister.