The Solar Water Heating Loan/Leasing Facility for Hotels

The Moroccan Solar Water Heating (SWH) Loan/Leasing Facility, called "PROSOL" (from the french "programme solaire") is a joint initiative of the Italian Ministry for the Environment andTerritory, the United Nations Environment Programme and the National Office of Electricity.

PROSOL - What it is

This SWH loan/leasing facility is a financial support mechanism:

• To create credit and leasing facilities at preferential terms using ONE as a channel for insuring recovery of the monthly payments;
  
  
• To help local banks build loan and leasing portfolios in the Renewable Energy area by providing an interest rate subsidy;
  
  
• To provide to the end user the guarantee of a quantity of produced solar energy based on the consumption of hot water; "Garantie de Résultats Solaires".

PROSOL - How it works

IMET, UNEP and ONE establish a 1.2 US$ million Facility:

• To provide to the end user an interest rate subsidy that will significantly lower the financing cost for a PROSOL loan or leasing;
  
  
• To provide independent technical expertise to all potential customers;
  
  
• ONE will promote the use of SWH technology by canvassing customers, insuring administrative follow up and launching a communication campaign;
  
  
• The monthly repayments are structured to match monthly savings of the energy used;
  
  
• The facility will phase out over a period of 18-24 months, leading to several collective installations.

PROSOL - What it does

• Encourage increased lending by local banks by reducing the risk in entering the SWH market;
  
  
• Support the development of partnerships between banks and SWH suppliers;
  
  
• Lower substantially by 4-5 points the interest rates charged for SWH financing;
  
  
• Help to shift the market from a cash market to a credit based market;
  
  
• Promote a competitive market for SWH by strengthening the demand side;
  
  
• Address the " high up-front cost " issue of the SWH, which is a barrier for the customer.

PROSOL - What it may achieve

• Ensure long-term viability of the entire sector;
  
  
• Leverage the US$ 1.2 million funds by 5 to 6 times in bank financing;
  
  
• Build confidence among the banks and expand lending to the Renewable Energy sector;
  
  
• Assist the Moroccan Government in developing its SWH policies.

Related Documents

Baseline study for:
Morocco (PDF - 891 KB)

Partners

Italian Ministry for Environment and Territory

Risoe