The Environmental Fund Authority (AFM) has managed to reach a new timetable in the program to subsidize prosumers Casa Verde for Photovoltaics, following criticism from the market and the Ministry of Environment over the IT system collapse in the first minutes of filing applicants’ files, on December 22. Thus, it was decided that “the transmission of the centralized lists…by the validated installers to take place between December 29, 2021 – January 4, 2022,” according to the AFM release posted on the Facebook page of the institution.
The problem? Although the filing of a table file is not complicated, many installers are leaving for the New Year’s holidays, market sources told Energynomics.
“You have to have access to data, or, if you’re in another country, say Austria, with your family, skiing, it’s hard to believe you took your laptop with you. It’s unpleasant, because half of Romania doesn’t work this week or next week … But the problem is much deeper, it’s a fundamental one: it’s the second time when things aren’t ready and the program is blocked. I think the trust in AFM reached bottom. However, the image of the AFM was very bad. Let’s think about how many presidents have been in charge of AFM in recent years. There is a much more serious problem, something needs to be addressed at a higher level. The fact that the program does not work again for prosumers is not ok, because nothing works. The only entity that worked was ANRE, which greatly simplified the rules,” said the quoted source.
AFM announced on Wednesday that “in order to resolve the situation that arose on December 22 and to come to the aid of individuals who have applied for access to funding, the Financing Guide has been amended by introducing new regulations in the registration procedure.”
“The modification of the financing guide aims at introducing a new stage through which the validated installers have the possibility to identify the eligible applicants according to the documents submitted by them in order to establish centralizing lists based on the new regulations mentioned in AFM President’s Order No. 488/28.12.2021. The transmission of the centralized lists is performed by the installers validated between December 29, 2021 – January 4, 2022.
Please note that after centralizing all the lists submitted by the validated installers, AFM will publish a calendar for uploading documents in the computer application, thus ensuring an organized and efficient way to use it, meant to reduce the risk of technical blockages.
Also, within the evaluation process and according to the provisions of art. 22, para. 8 of the Financing Guide, the validity of the documents submitted by the natural persons will be reported on the date of transmission of the centralized lists to the AFM,” it is also shown in the release of the authority.
“We also specify that, according to the provisions of art. 4 of Law no. 55/2020, on some measures to prevent and combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the validity of documents issued by public institutions and authorities, as well as by private entities authorized by law, is maintained throughout 90 days after the cessation of this condition; the effect of these legal provisions is that, if a document was valid until December 22, 2021, it remains valid even after this date, for the entire period of the emergency status. In this context, the document is considered to be on time at the date of transmission of the list to the AFM, and it is not necessary to obtain an updated one.
Another important change in the funding guide is the extension of the validity period of the land book extract from 30 to 60 days, so as to eliminate the risk of ineligibility of this document due to causes independent of the actions of applicants and validated installers. Because the land book extract does not fall into the category regulated by Law no. 55/2020, its validity has been extended to 60 days, calculated from the date of issue.
According to the new regulations, the registration of the applicants in the Program will be considered completed after fulfilling both stages, respectively after the transmission to the AFM of the centralizers and the loading of the documentation in the computer application,” it is also shown in the release.
