JERUSALEM, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israel has launched a program worth half a billion new shekels (280 million U.S. dollars) to promote energy efficiency by saving electricity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Ministry of Energy announced Thursday.
As part of the program, which is also being promoted by the Ministries of Finance and Environmental Protection, Israel is looking for financial institutions to provide loans with state guarantees to factories, local municipalities and commercial centers working to promote such projects.
The guarantee mechanism will operate for the next 10 years. The requests for loans from electricity consumers will be examined by a joint committee of the three ministries.
The committee's recommendations regarding the requests will be forwarded to the relevant financial institutions. After underwriting process, the institution will decide on the provision of the loan in accordance with the terms of the loan fund.
The Ministry of Energy will be responsible for operating the fund, processing the requests, controlling the process, collecting information and overseeing the project.
The program is one of a series of activities to promote energy efficiency in Israel and will be operated concurrently with other government assistance programs that offer grants for energy efficiency for various bodies.
This is part of the implementation of a government decision aimed at reducing 17 percent of Israel's electricity consumption by 2030.
