Energy ministry gave out €127m for schemes to set foundation for a green recovery

The energy and trade ministry has this year granted €127m in the form of schemes, setting the foundation for economic recovery and green energy transition, Minister Natasa Pilides said on Thursday.

“In 2021 we set the foundations for recovery after the pandemic and promoting the green energy transition,” Pilides told a news conference. “We continue with new incentives in 2022 to boost entrepreneurship and the green economy.”

The minister said in 2021 they granted €127m in the form of schemes, representing 25 per cent of available funds for the seven years, 2021-2027, and exceeds the amount paid for the entire previous period, 2014-2020, which was €120m.

Pilides said her ministry has secured over €540m from the EU for the period between 2021-2027 from which, 61 per cent will go towards the country’s energy transition and 38 per cent on the competitiveness of businesses and the economy.

“To us at the energy ministry, these two pillars are interconnected since supporting businesses entails green investment and push towards a more sustainable growth model, which promotes digital technologies, circularity, and innovation, and contributes decisively to the competitiveness of Cypriot enterprises and the products and services they offer,” she said.

Among the 2021-2022 schemes were €50m for small and medium manufacturing businesses, energy upgrading of houses €35m, startups €30m, and €25m for processing and trading agriculture products.

The ministry will also be granting €5m for the replacement of household appliances that consume a lot of energy.

For 2022, the ministry plans to grant €20m for the digital upgrading of businesses, €13m for the cyclical economy, €40m on energy upgrades for businesses and local authorities, €35m for energy upgrading houses, and around €8m for heat insulation, renewable energy sources, and charging points.

The ministry said it was important to note that government schemes have undergone an overhaul in a bid to modernise them.

“Apart from the simplification of procedures and the digitisation of the submission process, substantive changes have also been made like raising the subsidies and affording additional funds to applicants from mountain regions and disadvantageous areas,” the minister said.