Bulgarian Energy Efficiency for Competitive Industry Financing Facility (BEECIFF)

The Energy Efficiency and Green Economy Programme (the “programme”) was a joint initiative between the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism (MoEET) and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to promote sustainable energy solutions for SMEs.

The objectives of the programme were to:

• Improve the efficiency and productivity of environmentally friendly technologies utilised by SMEs.
• Reduce the energy intensity and adverse environmental impacts by promoting environmentally friendly, low-waste and energy saving production technologies 

This new Programme is innovative because it combined EU Structural Funds grants with commercial bank lending in one process. The grant component of the Programme was provided by MoEET as the Managing Authority from the Operational Programme “Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy 2007-2013“(OP Competitiveness). The loan component was managed by the EBRD and provided within the framework of the Bulgarian Energy Efficiency for Competitive Industry Finance Facility (BEECIFF). Under this Financing Facility, credit lines were provided to local commercial banks (Participating Banks) to on-lend to SMEs.

The work of the Consultant focussed on: 

• Advising on the design and structure of the Programme, including all technical aspects,
• Preparation of the programme documents and application package,
• Assisting with the implementation of the marketing strategy and raising awareness in the market,
• Delivery of trainings to energy auditors and banks,
• Organisation of the launch event and the programme website.

The main tasks of this assignment were:

• Developed a programme management structure and monitoring and evaluation system
• Prepared guidelines for applicants and the call for proposals
• Reviewed the procurement procedures for sub granting by the grant beneficiaries
• Prepared an operational and quality assurance manual
• Prepared procedures for calculating and reporting energy savings and CO2 emissions reductions
• Collected best practice examples of the use of EU Structural Funds for energy efficiency grant schemes
• Designed criteria for the selection of partner banks
• Prepared standardised energy audit templates
• Developed an energy audit registry
• Developed a capacity building and training strategy
• Designed and delivered regional training workshops and seminars for the participating banks and energy auditors
• Developed an energy efficiency and energy management handbook
• Developed a handbook on financing sustainable energy investments
• Designed a marketing and awareness raising plan and provided support in organising promotional events
• Designed and launched the programme website

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