About 9,000 Romanians can benefit from 15,000 euros each to make their homes energy efficient, through the "Energy Efficient House" programme, which begins on Tuesday, informs a press release of the Ministry of Environment sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday.

The programme has a budget of 430 million lei and approximately 9,000 homeowners in Romania will be able to make their homes energy efficient.

The aim of the programme is to reduce the energy consumption of Romanians' homes and greenhouse gas emissions. In other words: increasing energy efficiency and/or the use of energy from renewable sources in existing single-family homes, located in a building with a height of no more than three levels.

Romanians can benefit from an energy premium amounting to a maximum of 15,000 euros (approximately 70,000 lei), an amount that the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests finances through AFM (Environment Fund Administration). The non-reimbursable financing reimburses 60 per cent of the cost of such works, but not more than the mentioned amount, respectively 15,000 euros.

"The Energy Efficient House is one of the programmes that I care about a lot and that will help the population a lot, and also the economy and the environment. Most houses are not well insulated. Therefore, energy losses reach up to 30 per cent through the exterior walls, 25 per cent through the windows and the roof. It's a known fact that today the building sector is one of the largest consumers of energy and the largest source of greenhouse gases. Our programme has a large environmental component, but also an economic and social one: such an investment leads to a halving of energy bills and, implicitly, to a decrease in national energy consumption," says Minister Costel Alexe.

Eligible expenditures of the "Energy Efficient House" programme concern the installation of insulating windows, roof insulation, exterior walls, installation of a more efficient boiler, solar panels, ventilation systems, LED lighting fixtures, motion sensors, taps and new pipes and so on. The condition of the project's eligibility is that the energy efficiency of the house to increase, after its implementation, by at least one energy class.

All those interested in the "Energy Efficient House" will apply online for the energy premium, accompanied by an initial energy performance certificate and an energy audit of the house where they want to do the work.

Immediately after accepting the application, the owners will receive a unique registration number and have 15 days to submit the investment file. After the approval of the file, the works can start and can take place in a maximum period of 18 months. In the end, AFM settles 60 per cent of the investment, after a new energy audit of the house.

Online registration opens at 1.00 pm. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Cernat, editor: Nicoleta Gherasi; EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)