USAID Serbia Better Energy Quarterly Performance Report (FY23, Q1)

The project focuses on district heating plants and multi-apartment buildings by investing knowledge and materials to improve energy performance at the local level. Over the life of the project, beneficiaries will receive cross-cutting support to facilitate initiatives and investments that save energy and/or introduce new sources of energy. Better Energy provides policy advice, technical assistance, training, and grants to create finance models that demonstrate the application of Energy Efficiency (EE) and Renewable Energy (RE) investments for replication at scale. The project's activities and achievements are aimed at improving EE at the municipal level (Objective 1) and increasing the use of renewable energy sources (RES) (Objective 2). The project has undergone a transition in Quarter 1 regarding the Team structure and refining the program approach. The Project team paused and reflected on program implementation and finalized a Year 2 Work Plan that focuses on overcoming challenges and is designed to ensure the integration of both project objectives and overarching activities to support project goals in alignment with the Integrated Technical Strategy. During this process, the Better Energy team maintained regular contact with USAID colleagues, whose support has been greatly appreciated. USAID has been very supportive during the transition period as the team completed its first in-kind grant to support local beneficiaries. The Project team also continued to coordinate with local partners as we adapted the work to the realities on the ground. In addition to the first grants being approved for 5 MABs in cooperation with the MoME and City of Valjevo, three pilot projects in three DHPs were finalized in Nis, Sombor, and Knjazevac in FY2022 Q4, with the commissioning tests being completed just before the start of the heating season on October 15. The Team finalized a series of nationwide trainings for private companies in cooperation with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce in Krusevac, Belgrade, and Zajecar. Trainings focused on the Production of Electricity from RES for private companies. The interest exceeded expectations, with more than one hundred attendees. The Team was actively working on building partnerships with important and relevant stakeholders – Ministry of Finance, Post Bank, AOFI, National Bank of Serbia, Guarantee Fund of Vojvodina, US DFC, ProCredit, Erste Bank – regarding the development of sustainable financing instruments for MABs and homeowners associations (HOAs). The Team advocated the development of a bank (loan) product for HOAs with the Post Bank. The Ministry of Finance is willing to look into setting up a guarantee fund for HOAs to support the banking sector provided that the Better Energy/Post Bank pilot projects with HOAs prove that the state guarantee fund for HOAs will help unlock market potential. On the renewable energy side, the Team identified DHPs willing to become the first DHP prosumers in the country. Four DHPs expressed interest for technical support in this process: Kladovo, Leskovac, Nis, and Subotica. The Project approved a grant for NALED to engage the Government and its relevant ministries in a dialogue to change regulations and improve the financial and economic predictability of the position of residential prosumers as well as to create preconditions for improved creditworthiness, collateral, and loan eligibility of MABs. The Ministry of Mining and Energy officially announced that Better Energy is considered a partner in its National Energy Efficiency Improvement Program and has highlighted Better Energy program activities on the official MoME website. The Project is receiving significant recognition in the recently launched national awareness campaign to save energy, delivered in close cooperation with the MoME and the Nikola Tesla Museum, featuring Nikola Tesla in animated form as the main visual of the campaign. Additionally, Better Energy's participation in the International Energy and Investment Days in Novi Sad in early November received coverage in more than 25 media outlets. Better Energy experts appeared on RTV Vojvodina and RTS, and the entire event was followed on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube channels.