On Monday, 3 March, at 5 p.m., the period during which energy vulnerable people can apply for the REPowerEU i4 phase 1, component A, programme run by the Ministry of European Investments and Projects (MIPE), ends. In order to facilitate access to this support for vulnerable households, the Ministry has extended until 3 March 2025, at 5 p.m., the deadline for operators to submit applications to the county Energy Efficiency One Stop Shops (GUEE) on behalf of the vulnerable people with whom they have contracts, to the 3 March 2025, at 5 p.m. On 10 January 2025, 340 beneficiaries were registered, all from only three counties – Prahova, Suceava, Teleorman – and only 8 localities.
Who can benefit from vouchers
The programme is addressed to households and individuals in a state of energy vulnerability: single persons with an average monthly income of maximum 2,053 lei, who have benefited from food or energy vouchers; families with an average monthly income of maximum 1,386 lei per person, who have benefited from food or energy vouchers. Other criteria are also taken into account, such as health problems requiring special electrical equipment, old age or the location of the implementation site in remote areas without access to electricity networks.
In all cases, the single-family dwelling (house) must be owned by the beneficiary and declared as the main residence in the identity card.
The list of vulnerable persons was taken by MIPE from the data collected at national level through the Operational Programme for the Disadvantaged (POAD) and forwarded to local public authorities. It can be consulted at the headquarters of each territorial administrative unit (UATs) (e.g.: Gherla City Hall, Social Assistance Department).
Necessary steps to get support
In theory, the representatives of the TAOs have already contacted the people on these lists and directed them to the economic operators approved by the MIPE, with whom they can conclude a commercial contract.
LIST OF VALIDATED ECONOMIC OPERATORS
The operator is responsible for preparing the documentation, submitting the file to the GUEE for verification and filling in the application form in the NRRP platform.
So, if you haven’t already done so:
- Check whether you are on the list of vulnerable persons sent by the MIPE, either to the town hall or to the county energy efficiency point of single contact (GUEE)
- Sign a contract with a validated installer
- Send the necessary documents to the county Energy Efficiency One Stop Shop (GUEE) via the company with which you signed the contract
The GUEE will complete the verification of the files by 31 March 2025, and economic operators will have until 3 April 2025 to submit their applications for funding on the NRRP platform.
Documents required for the final beneficiary file managed by the validated economic operator
- Valid identity document
- Documents to prove the ownership of the property (land and/or building): land register extract or any other document issued by the local public authority – e.g. tax roll extract showing the ownership and the related ownership share – issued no later than 60 calendar days before the date of submission of the final beneficiary’s application to GUEE.
- Documents proving the compliance of the single-family residential building with the regulations on the protection of cultural heritage (when photovoltaic panels are requested). For vulnerable beneficiaries, the GUEE staff will ensure that the building is not classified/being classified as a historical monument in the UNESCO heritage, national cultural heritage, local cultural heritage in urban and rural areas or that it is not located in a historical monument protection area and/or in a protected built-up area approved by law, by enquiring the information provided by the responsible authorities (e.g. County Directorate of Culture, County Council or Local Public Authority).
- Affidavit of compliance with the eligibility conditions (required by some GUEE!)
Under the RePowerEU component of the NRRP, two grant schemes in the form of vouchers have been approved: investment 4 (i4) for accelerating the use of renewable energy by households and investment 7 (i7) for improving household energy efficiency, with a single call for projects.
In the RepowerEU program i4 three calls for projects are being prepared:
PNRR/2024/2024/C16RePowerEU/I4/1.A targets the installation of new photovoltaic panel systems (with a net capacity of at least 3 kW) and the installation of electricity storage systems (with a usable electricity storage capacity of at least 5 kW). The call is dedicated only to vulnerable energy consumers (who do not own either of the two systems) and involves vouchers including for energy isolated households – without access to the electricity grid.
Recommendations on selecting the installer
The criteria recommended by the GUEE representatives contacted by Energynomics are the usual ones in any business relationship:
- the age of the CAEN code in the sector
- net/net profit or loss in the previous financial year
- company turnover in previous years
- the number of users/households included in the grant application
The Intelligent Energy Association – AEI complains of major problems in REPowerEU programme for PV panels to vulnerable households, mainly in terms of the flawed way in which the firms validated in the programme were selected. According to AEI, the selection criteria for the validated firms were not correlated with the actual experience in the field and the financial capacity required to implement the projects. Many of the selected firms have very small turnovers, some in the order of a few hundred lei, and a small number of employees (1-3 persons). This raises questions about their ability to set up in a short time the installations for which the vouchers have been allocated. Estimates suggest that these firms will not be able to complete the work on time, which would result in the loss of a large part of the allocated funds.
Recommendations on pricing, contract negotiation and implementation
The funding guidelines stipulate maximum eligible amounts – €5,000 for electricity generation systems and €5,000 for electricity storage systems. Beneficiaries must ensure that the value of the contract does not exceed this amount and can request several bids to negotiate a more competitive price.
AIE also complained about the over-estimated costs, with a negative impact on final beneficiaries. One aspect criticised by AEI president Dumitru Chisăliță is the overscaling of the value of the vouchers in relation to the real costs of the equipment and installation. For example, for a 3 kW system with a 5 kW battery, the value of the voucher is 50,000 lei, while the real cost would be around 16,000 lei. This means an over-valuation of more than 200%, money that does not reach the final beneficiaries, but remains with the selected firms, some of which appear to be acting strictly as intermediaries. In addition, the subcontracting of work and the use of sub-standard equipment risks jeopardising the safety and efficiency of the systems installed.
Beneficiaries are advised to check equipment certifications, ask for warranty details and consult independent specialists before signing the contract.
For vulnerable people, the energy efficiency one-stop-shops will monitor the technical and financial implementation of the financing contracts to prevent possible abuses. The quality of works will be checked after implementation, and in case of problems related to delays, defective works or lack of transparency, beneficiaries can refer the matter to the GUEE or the MIPE for resolution.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY ONE-STOP-SHOPS (GUEE) have been set up by law with effect from 1 March 2024.
LIST OF THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY ONE-STOP-SHOPS
Thanks to the representatives of the 9 Energy Efficiency Points of Single Contact Points who responded to Energynomics‘ requests for clarification, in particular GUEE Alba, GUEE Brașov, GUEE București, GUEE Galați, GUEE Teleorman!
Of the 42 requests sent by e-mail on 24 February, we received 9 replies. Of the remaining 33 county GUEEs, only 10 opened the message. In three counties, the GUEE’s e-mail address is not functional, and the representative of one GUEE not only did not respond in any way, but decided to unsubscribe from Energynomics!
ALSO READ One year after setting up the One Stop Shops for Energy Efficiency – a first test of how well they work
These figures alone are sufficient to describe the unsatisfactory state of the Energy Efficiency Ons Stop Shops one year after they being established. Major difficulties in funding and staffing these entities with qualified personnel were already anticipated, which is part of the explanation. Another part may have to do with the structure of the RePowerEU programme, the i4 investment, itself, in its three components: funds not used in Phase 1, component A, will be reallocated to Phase II, which is aimed at individuals (general population) who do not own either of the two systems and are not necessarily energy vulnerable, but rather interested and financially capable to engage in such a project.
