The Directorate of Energy launched the program Support for efficient MSMEswhich aims to benefit around 400 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). This category represents more than 90% of all Uruguayan companies and more than 60% of the country’s workforce.
Total, the funds available to execute this initiative amount to $30 million and with them it is intended to optimize the use of energy in the facilities of the applicants.
This initiative arises with the objective that “MSMEs accelerate the recovery process after the pandemic, through energy efficiency tools”pointed out the national director of Energy, Fitzgerald Cantero, in dialogue with Coffee & Business. “Any measure of energy efficiency is always going to have a recovery of the investment”, limited the hierarch.
The maximum amount that an MSME can access through this program is $145,000 pesos. In addition, although it depends on the size of the company (micro, small or medium), the contribution minimum is $45 thousand.
The companies will be selected from two variants: the quality of the project presented by the MSMEs, which will be analyzed and selected by technical professionals, and by its geographical location in relation to the size of its locality.
“The idea is that all the departments benefit and that the metropolitan area does not concentrate all the vacancies,” Cantero pointed out. The system of quotas by department will be in force until September 1st. After that date, this variable will no longer be taken into account for the selection of projects, and the benefits will be awarded only for the quality of the project to be executed.
The initiative of the Ministry of Industry does not discriminate against companies by the sector to which they belong, although the companies of the agro sector do not run for this policybecause “they have other tools focused on energy benefits,” according to Canaro.
The $30 million that will be allocated to this initiative come from the Uruguayan Savings and Energy Efficiency Trust (Fudaee), in charge of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining. This fund aims to “promote energy efficiency, generate a culture of energy efficiency and support the different sectors involved in energy efficiency,” concluded Cantero.
