The Nová zelená úsporám program has attracted interest from 2300 applicants

Prague - The Ministry of the Environment has received nearly 5,000 applications for subsidies from the New Green Savings program as of today. In total, people are requesting almost 470 million crowns for the reconstruction of family houses. In the first phase, the program offers one billion crowns, and additional funds are expected to come from the sale of emission allowances, approximately 800 million crowns. Environment Minister Tomáš Podivínský told reporters today that he is negotiating with the caretaker Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok about transferring an additional three billion crowns from national sources.
According to calculations by experts from the Ministry of the Environment, the sale of allowances could even yield 900 million crowns, with the first funds expected to be available by the end of the year and more next year.
"Assuming that each billion represents about 2,000 insulated family houses, we would reach a total of 10,000 insulated family houses in the New Green Savings program 2013, along with other measures such as heat pumps, solar systems for heating domestic hot water...", said the minister.
Applicants for the subsidies have been able to submit their applications since August 12. In the Moravian-Silesian Region alone, officials have recorded 640 applications for support totaling nearly 60 million crowns, Podivínský stated. Just two weeks ago, on August 18, the fund in the Czech Republic registered around 2,000 interested parties.
The amount of the subsidy depends on how much people save due to the investment. The program aims to motivate applicants; for example, if the need for heating energy is reduced by as much as 60 percent, they can receive support of up to 50 percent of the eligible costs. "This is an investment program, where every subsidized crown we invest in the national economy will generate an additional three crowns," noted the minister, adding that the money will multiply in the economy and significantly improve the appearance of towns and villages.
The Ministry of the Environment plans to make the first disbursements in the fall, and the cessation of application intake is expected only when the allocated funds are exhausted, but no later than November 29. Households affected by floods are given preferential treatment in the program, with the state promising up to a twenty percent discount on all types of measures.
According to Deputy Jaroslav Hrubeš from the State Environmental Fund, about a thousand of the nearly five thousand applications are for insulation. "What is surprising is that there are 270 applications for new construction, which many questioned, but it has been shown that there is interest," he stated. Applicants are reportedly also including recuperation in insulation measures in more than ten percent of applications.
The call focuses on measures such as insulation, the construction of family houses with very low energy demands, and effective use of energy sources, as well as the replacement of heating sources with solid or environmentally friendly energy sources.
However, critics have recently pointed out the lack of qualified professionals authorized to process energy audits. Only 300 professionals can carry out these audits, and about 1,200 are certified auditors. "We cannot do much to address their shortage; we provide links on our website where they can find these professionals," Hrubeš added.