Companies around energy-saving technologies criticize the New Green Savings Program

Prague - Manufacturers of biomass boilers, heat pumps, solar collectors, and other energy-saving technologies criticize the government for the current setup of the New Green Savings program. Entrepreneurs are unhappy, for instance, about the minimal support for renewable heat sources. Moreover, it is allegedly only those with enough money for complete insulation of their homes who will receive state support. Representatives of industry associations stated this at a press conference today.
     The New Green Savings program, which the Ministry of the Environment (MŽP) plans to launch next year, is expected to have 28 billion crowns available from the sale of emission allowances. An additional ten billion is anticipated from European funds, as recently stated by Minister of the Environment Tomáš Chalupa (ODS).
The manager of Propuls Solar, Aleš Prokopec, considers the biggest mistake to be that the state, with the name of the program and by releasing allegedly incomplete information, creates the impression that it will support renewable energy sources in the same way as the previous Green Savings program.
     "The new program should support independent heat sources without the connection to insulation," said Tomáš Matuška, the chairman of the Czechoslovak Society for Solar Energy. According to him, the installation of renewable energy sources is a quick and feasible measure for family homes, but the connection to complete property insulation complicates the situation. "It excludes low-income groups who do not have the means for extensive insulation," Matuška added.
     The Ministry of the Environment defends itself by stating that only insulation together with the replacement of the source will ensure the efficiency of public spending. "A mere replacement of the heating source without implementing technical measures to reduce the energy demand of the building is not economically or ecologically effective in most cases," said the spokesman of the office, Matyáš Vitík, to ČTK.
     The MŽP expects to allow entry into the program for low-income individuals through a comprehensive system of discounted financing, in which it will be possible for most applicants to cover the repayments from the financial savings obtained through energy-saving measures.
     Financial support will mainly be directed towards owners of family houses. Public buildings will account for 30 percent of the supported renovations. The amount of support in the program will depend on the share of saved energy, according to the proposal from the Ministry of the Environment. Owners of family houses will not be able to draw support from other subsidy programs.