The EBRD’s Early Transition Countries (ETCs) Initiative aims to stimulate economic activity in those of the Bank's countries, which still face the most significant transition challenges: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
FINTECC is working in ETCs, to support the implementation of climate technologies.
Early Transition Countries face significant challenges in terms of energy efficiency, including wasted energy, high energy dependency and inadequate energy infrastructures. Overall, the ETCs’ average energy intensity is over three times higher than that of the European Union.
Central Asian ETCs are particularly vulnerable to any future disruption of hydrological systems. There is a real need for water efficient technologies, as well as improved irrigation systems and water infrastructures.
FINTECC has identified several barriers to successful technology transfer in the ETCs region. These include the high cost associated with implementing climate technologies, coupled with a lack of understanding around profitability vs. risk.
Information is not communicated effectively, meaning projects are often viewed as having even higher inherent technical and financial risks than is necessarily the case. There is therefore the clear need for technology deployments that can act as demonstration projects to the relevant sectors.
There is also a lack of adequate regulatory frameworks, to support and incentivise climate technologies. Where the technologies are implemented, knowledge is not being effectively shared between sectors. There is therefore a need to improve policies and establish good information-sharing networks. Having defined the barriers to overcome, we are now working in ETCs, in the following ways:
Investment support
We offer incentive grants to help companies prioritise climate technologies within their investment programmes. These include technologies that achieve energy, water or materials efficiency. They also include those that increase business resilience to the effects of climate change. Our grants are primarily for climate technologies with low market penetration and good replicability potential, within their participating country.
Incentive grants are available as a complement to EBRD financing and can sponsor up to 25 per cent of the cost of the specific technology. The grants are capped at US$ 500,000 for any one company and are payable after the installation and commissioning of the eligible climate technologies.
Technical support
FINTECC provides companies within ETCs with the following technical support:
The EBRD’s in-house energy and water efficiency specialists review energy, water and material efficiency potential in client operations and assist in identifying the best way to support them in implementing investment opportunities.
International specialists are available where necessary to conduct resource efficiency audits, helping companies to prioritise sustainable resource efficiency investments and understand the technical and financial feasibility of climate technologies in their context.
Learn more about resource efficiency audits here.
Training programmes are helping local consultants learn more about climate technologies, particularly in relation to the industrial and buildings sectors. The local consultants can then provide more effective support for local clients. Training programmes are currently being delivered in Moldova and Armenia.
Policy support
Three priority areas of policy support have been identified for ETCs:
- Preparing or upgrading National Energy Efficiency Action Plans as needed
- Creating energy performance standards and labelling (S&L) schemes
- Developing associated S&L monitoring, verification and enforcement processes
The International Energy Agency has produced a Policy Insights paper, with support from the EBRD and with inputs from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The paper will help policy-makers in ETCs and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean understand the options for enabling climate technology implementation.
View the Policy Insights paper here.