Enigin Update - Fund Aims at 20 Percent Energy Savings by SMEs
SOUTH AFRICAN small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) looking to reduce their energy consumption can benefit from a new fund developed by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
Enterprises can take out loans from IDC for energy-efficiency measures and technologies, which lead to savings on their electricity bills.
Rentia van Tonder, head of IDC's green funding unit, explained that the aim of the R500 million ($71.3 million) loan facility is to produce energy savings of 20 percent for SMEs via several measures including retrofitting buildings and renewable energy. The funding would be available to SMEs at prime less 2 percent.
Many SMEs are already improving energy efficiency to become more competitive and offset the ever rising cost of electricity.
The IDC's strategy to finance SMEs energy efficiency projects, comes close on the heels of the announcement in June by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) that it would lend R491m to the country’s Mercantile Bank to help it to increase its lending to smaller businesses, including financing energy efficient and renewable energy projects to reduce CO2 emissions and energy costs.
South African SMEs can also receive funding for energy efficiency efforts from the First National Bank Commercial's ecoEnergy-loan, launched last October.
First Rand's group environmental risk manager, Heather McLeish, said this loan could be of up to R500000 ($71,420) and was to fund initiatives such as energy efficient lighting. Further to this larger commercial property owners can borrow over R500000 through this latter scheme.
Enigin Distributors in South Africa are helping many SMEs to carry out energy efficiency upgrades using solutions from Enigin, leading to substantial savings of energy and costs.
Picture of Johannesburg Braamfontein Eland by NJR ZA reproduced under CCL.
