Французская компания проверила уровень доступа кыргызстанцев к энергоэффективным технологиям

A French company has checked the level of access to energy efficient technologies for local people in Kyrgyzstan

Experts from the PVSyst Foundation (France) have  positively assessed the work of the CAMP Alatoo PF in increasing access to energy-efficient technologies for rural communities. In practice, this process means meeting the market demand for the services of qualified craftsmen in house insulation, as well as supporting and developing their entrepreneurial activities.

Since the end of last year, the CAMP Alatoo PF staff have trained and improved the professional, marketing and communication skills of 30 craft sspecialists (masters) from Issyk-Kul and Naryn oblasts. Out of the above mentioned, 3 people signed contracts with the Fund to get loans to pay for insulation services and buy the necessary materials for their clients.  Clients of thermal insulation services have pledged to repay the cost of materials and work of a craftsmen within 24 months depending on the amount of the interest-free loan.  At the same time, the masters bear responsibility for repayment of loans. In the event of non-fulfillment of the obligations , the contract with the craftsmen must be terminated. 

Each of the masters has led teams with a total of 3 to 10 handymen. According to Ruslan Ismailov, an energy efficiency engineer at the CAMP Alatoo PF, so far the teams have insulated 13 residential houses - 9 in Issyk-Kul and 4 in Chui oblast.

As a rule, masters advise their clients what structure of the house to start insulating with. According to the specialists from the CAMP Alatoo, step-by-step thermal insulation is beneficial for those homeowners who do not have the financial means to immediately protect their houses from the cold. In this case, they can take a loan to insulate a certain part of the house, and after its full repayment, apply to a craftsman to replace the other structures of the house.

The master and inhabitants can calculate the material costs taking into account the region, the location area of the house and wall thickness by using the online calculator available at https://eep.camp.kg/. As a result of the work done, the largest amount for thermal insulation of a dwelling house, including all structures to be insulated, was over 300,000 KGS", the CAMP Alatoo PF specialist told in the course of the meeting with the PVSyst Foundation specialists. 

Representatives of the PVSyst Fondation highlighted the importance of obtaining feedback from participants on the project conditions, including the financial transactions of the loans, problems and guarantees of repayment, and the reserved interest (and in some cases refusal) of villagers in the opportunity to insulate houses with an interest-free loan. Project managers answered these questions during the meetings with craftsmen and their clients in Kyzyl-Suu and Saruu villages of Issyk-Kul oblast and in Bishkek. During the interviews, incidentally without the participation of the CAMP Alatoo PF team, they gathered the necessary information, on the basis of which they provided recommendations to the project implementers. In particular, it was suggested that in the future an express energy audit of residential premises whose owners decided to participate in the project should be conducted, the heat saving potential of houses under construction should be studied, and the mechanism of reviewing applications for gradual thermal insulation of households should be improved, taking into account their financial situation.

During visits to the households, the CAMP Alatoo specialists installed thermo-hygrometers in 4 insulated houses and 2 houses without thermal insulation, as well as installed 1 device each outside the premises to record the outdoor temperature. The devices will record the figures until the end of the heating season 2022-2023. The data will be analysed and will show an initial picture of the improvements after thermal insulation as an energy efficient technology. Another tip was to increase the involvement of local residents in the project through information dissemination.