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Establishment of new €70m Energy Efficiency Fund can create 5000 Jobs - Rabbitte

Communications & Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte today announced the Cabinet approval of a proposal to establish a €70 million Energy Efficiency Fund which will provide project lending for energy efficiency works in the public and commercial sectors.

The Energy Efficiency Fund will be separate from, and additional to, the grants-based Retrofit programme for private homes, which currently maintains more than 4,000 jobs.

The Minister said:

The Government has today authorised €35 million in seed capital for the Fund, which will leverage a similar amount from the private sector. We estimate that about €250 million in savings can be made in energy bills in the public sector alone. Around 675 jobs, direct and indirect, will be created for every €10 million expenditure.

The Energy Efficiency Fund will finance two main types of project, in the public and commercial sector –

  • Energy Performance Contracts, where funding is drawn down by an energy services company (ESCO) – a commercial business that designs and implements energy savings for clients, and

  • Direct lending to client companies.

Read the full press release here.