Study on the Energy-Saving Potential of Agricultural Machinery and Equipment 

The Green for Growth Fund (GGF) Southeast Europe actively offers dedicated energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) credit lines in Southeastern and Eastern Europe. To help promote EE and reduce CO2 emissions, the Fund invests long-term dedicated funds in financial institutions (FIs) which in turn provide medium to long-term loans to SMEs, households and municipalities. Among other eligibility criteria, FIs are required to achieve an average minimum of 20% in primary energy and/or CO₂ savings across its aggregated sub-loan portfolio and an average minimum 15% for each individual project. In 2012-2013, Econoler completed an initial assignment focused on five countries, namely Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine. Econoler was then granted a second assignment at the end of 2013 that focused on eight other countries, namely Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Georgia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Turkey. A third assignment was carried out in early 2016 to update the baselines (by factoring in changes to the machinery offered in the market) and associated calculation algorithms.

The overall objective of the study was to identify existing or new standard EE measures which could be financed through GGF for the agricultural sectors of the thirteen target countries. The study assessed the energy saving and CO2 reduction potential associated with proposed EE measures, which involved replacing energy-intensive equipment with new units or adding new equipment in cases with high savings potential. Throughout the three assignments, Econoler conducted the following activities:

• Carrying out literature reviews, surveys and interviews with key stakeholders to collect agriculture-related data and then identify the most common agricultural equipment with the required potential for energy savings and CO2 emission reductions;

• Assessing the possibility of standardizing savings calculations in all countries;

• Evaluating the relevance of the measures defined in the first assignment and making recommendations for adjustments, as appropriate; and

• Assessing the possibility of implementing additional applicable measures.

 The study enabled the evaluation of the overall potential of each measure in each targeted country. It confirmed the eligibility of each as standard GGF measures since they exemplified the savings potential of more than 22% in primary energy and/or CO2 emissions.