Public Call for Applications for Technical Assistance (TA) and Performance Cash incentive (PCI) for implementation of Industrial Energy Efficiency (IEE) Projects

Announced by the

GEF funded and UNIDO Implemented Project

“Catalyzing market transformation for industrial energy efficiency and accelerate investments in best available practices and technologies in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”

Project Component 3: Scaling-up of investments in industrial energy efficiency technologies

The Project Context:

The project “Catalyzing market transformation for industrial energy efficiency and accelerate investments in best available practices and technologies in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Republic of Macedonia by accelerating the transformation of the Macedonian market for industrial energy efficiency (IEE) towards increased use and demand for IEE best-available practices and technologies such as energy management systems and energy system optimization and greater offer of related consultancy and investment services.

The project is funded by the Global Environmental Facility with co-financing contributions from UNIDO, the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MoEPP) of the Republic of Macedonia, the Ministry of Economy (MoE), the Energy Agency of the Republic of Macedonia (EARM), the Macedonian Bank for Development Promotion (MBDP), the USAID Industrial Energy Management (IEM) project, the REC Country Office Macedonia (REC COM further in the text), the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy of the University of St. Cyril and Methodius and many private sector enterprises.

The Project consists of three Components.

Component 1 – Strengthening Macedonian policy, regulatory and institutional frameworks and capacity for market transformation for industrial energy efficiency and green industry;

Component 2 – Market development support for deployment and diffusion of best available practices and technologies for energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in industry;

Component 3 – Scaling-up of investments in energy efficiency technologies for industry

Project Component 3 (PC3) aims at accelerating the pace of investments in IEE projects and technologies by enhancing the use of available financing facilities for investments in industrial energy efficiency as well as to help mobilize additional financing from the North Macedonian banking sector. The PC3 is designed to focus on both:

1. Increasing quality and number of IEE projects and investment proposals submitted to Macedonian banks, and
2. Increasing the incentives for enterprises and banks to invest and engage in industrial energy efficiency projects.

To accomplish the aims of Component 3, the Project establishes a Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) and Performance Cash incentive (PCI) scheme.

The Public Call Purpose:

This document represents the open and public call for applications from North Macedonia-based industrial enterprises that are in need of technical assistance and/or cash incentive to make possible and accelerate the implementation of industrial energy efficiency projects.

The technical assistance and performance cash incentive are to be received from the project established Technical Assistance Facility (TAF). The mission of the TAF related to the implementation of IEE investment projects to be submitted by the NM industrial enterprises is based on the two core and inter-linked supporting interventions:

2. To provide professional technical assistance to enterprises for submitting IEE projects/loan requests to NM commercial banks. The value of the expert assistance provided to one enterprise will not be higher than 2.5% of the total IEE project value and it will not exceed 4,000 USD.
3. To provide cash incentive to NM industrial enterprises to invest in IEE projects. The Performance Cash Incentive (PCI) scheme is intended to increase and accelerate investments by North Macedonian industrial enterprises in energy efficiency improvements of their manufacturing operations and processes. The performance cash incentive will consist of а grant contribution equal to 20% of the loan principal, up to a maximum of 25,000 USD per loan or enterprise.

 More details on the TAF and the PCI Scheme support interventions can be found in the comprehensive TAF & PCI Brochure attached as a PDF document to this Call. The brochure effectively elaborates the structure and rationale of the IEE investments, the eligible IEE technologies and the supporting interventions process.

Eligibility Criteria:

The applicant company for the TA and PCI support need to satisfy the following basic eligibility criteria:

• The project applicant must be a registered North Macedonia business enterprise.
• The project investment must be categorized as Industrial Energy Efficiency project.
• Expert technical assistance and cash incentives will focus on supporting industrial energy efficiency best-available technologies such as:
  • Energy Management System (ISO 50001) Implementation
  • Steam System Optimisation (SSO)
  • Compressed Air System Optimization (CASO)
  • Digital technologies (metering, automation and control systems)
  • Refrigeration system optimization
  • Electric driven motor system optimization
  • Other IEE technologies

While the above technologies will be in focus for the Project’s technical assistance and cash incentive, other IEE technologies will be also eligible and supported.

Additional eligibility criteria:

• Overall business enterprise creditworthiness (usually done according to the standard commercial bank procedures, and based on the company past financial performance and current capital position, vis-à-vis the new project investment size). The enterprise will need to be able to raise a reasonable amount of external capital from a commercial bank or other financial institution.
• New project proposals or existing project proposals developed from 1st Jan 2019 onwards will be considered as eligible for screening stage. Older project proposals should be updated.
• The business enterprises that are eligible to apply for the Technical Assistance Facility and Performance Cash Incentive must come from the industrial sector, meaning that it should primarily conduct one of the following activities:a) Manufacturing;
  b) Processing;
  c) Mining.

The Application Process and Required Documentation:

The industrial enterprises interested to receive the technical assistance and/or performance cash incentive for their IEE projects will need to fill out and submit the TAF & PCI Application Form, attached as a separate PDF Form to this Call.                                                   .

A successful application will require the following documents to be submitted by the proponent:

• Filled Application Form, with all required information;
• Supporting documents:
  • Copy of Business registration certificate (Tekovna sostojba, not later than 6 months)
  • Copies of Financial Annual Statements for the last two fiscal years (2020 and 2019)

The required documentation needs to be submitted in digital, pdf document format, to the following e-mail addresses:

ipetrovski@rec.org
CC tradovanovik@rec.org

The deadline for TAF&PCI application is July 31^st, 2021.

TAF & PCI Support Selection Criteria:

Eligible IEE investment projects will be evaluated and selected by the TAF Evaluation Panel against specific set of assessment criteria that will include, but not be limited to, the following:

• The attractiveness of the IEE technologies and concrete measures;
• The project’s potential for greenhouse gas emissions abatement;
• The company’s determination and ability to implement and co-finance the project;

Further Enquiries and Contact Information:

All enquiries about the TAF and PCI application process should be submitted to the following contact.

Contact:

Name: Ivan Petrovski

Position: National Project Manager

E-mail address: ipetrovski@rec.org

Once a company has established an Energy Management System, it needs to properly maintain and improve its energy efficiency each year. Company have to undertake activities that are carried out to continuously improving company energy performance and ensure that it is sustained.

ISO 50001 is structured to align with other popular industry management system standards such as those for quality (ISO 9001), occupational health and safety (OHSAS 18001), food safety (ISO 22000) and environmental management (ISO 14001). Organizations can thus, if appropriate, integrate an energy management system with their existing management system(s).

The implementation of an Energy Management System is not mandatory for small and medium enterprises, but small and medium enterprises are encouraged to implement an Energy Management System, as well as to carry out voluntary energy audits.

All large enterprises as defined in Article 3, Paragraph 22 of the Law on Energy Efficiency are obliged to carry out an energy audit every four years, in accordance with the provisions stipulated in this Law and the Rulebook on Energy Audits of Large Enterprises. Large enterprises are not obliged to carry out external energy audits in cases when they have implemented an energy management system certified by a conformity assessment body accredited in accordance with the Law on Accreditation, which is compliant with the relevant European or International Standards (ISO), provided that the management system includes an internal energy audit that meets the detailed conditions prescribed in the Rulebook on Energy Audits of the Large Enterprises.

Certified consultants according to the UNIDO methodology for implementation of energy management systems are national energy efficiency experts who have the knowledge, skills and tools needed to implement energy management systems in accordance with the international standard ISO 50001

Lists of certified experts according to the UNIDO methodology, their contacts and CVs can be found in the section “UNIDO qualified Macedonian energy efficiency experts”, which is an integral part of this web platform .

Yes there are. One of them is an annual call published by the Ministry of Economy

https://economy.gov.mk/Upload/Documents/ЈP%20%20DELOVNI%20SUBJEKTI%202021.pdf

Yes, there are a number of consulting companies and certification bodies on the market that offer assistance in implementing the Energy efficiency standard. There is an active Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) and Performance-Based Cash Incentive (PCI) which supports implementation of an Energy Management System according to the ISO 50001:2018 standard alongside an investment in energy efficient technologies.

One of the first activities to be undertaken when implementing an energy management system within a company is to review the existing level of energy management in the company. The purpose of such a self-assessment is to identify the priorities for the company regarding the implementation process. It is also crucial that any effective energy management system has the full commitment of the top management of the company. This commitment can be demonstrated by developing and signing the energy policy and dedicating adequate person-hours and resources to the implementation of the energy management system.