FINANCING ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECTS FOR RETAIL SECTOR

Energy poverty is defined as a situation in which the household is unable to pay the costs of heating and electricity, or the amount needed for those costs exceeds a tenth of household income. This problem is one of the biggest problems in the European Union. Sources for financing energy efficiency projects could be represented as a part of the solution to this problem. Furthermore, solution key could be knowledge of housing sector structure and "energy products" that could be appropriate for households at risk of poverty. Countries in the region that are longer faced with this problem have developed a series of products, through which they encourage new investments, but also substantially reduce its impact. Croatia, as a new member of the European Union adopted "The energy renovation of residential buildings in the area for the period from 2013th by 2020." Program is aimed at improving the energy performance of existing buildings in Croatia. Measures described in the Program are encouraging renewal of the outer shell (increase thermal protection of the outer shell and windows replacement) encouraging the replacement of the heating system (replacement of existing heating systems that use electricity or fossil fuels new systems with condensing gas boilers), and encouraging the use of renewable energy (installation of solar thermal collectors, heat pump installation and installation of small biomass stoves). The Program defines forms of financing these measures from the national level, but also the role of other stakeholders in their implementation. The question is if measures listed in the Program are for themselves sufficient to address the issue of energy poverty? Second question is if some other measures used in neighboring countries could be used in Croatia. This paper will analyze the measures implemented/ or measures that are planned to be implemented in Croatia. Further analysis will show measures implemented by countries in the region. After that further conclusion will be made about the possibility of extending the measures, or "product" that could be of interest to the target group. The purpose of this research is to explore the possibilities of application of the new measures, or "products" of energy efficiency, which could have impact on reducing energy poverty.