Establishment, Aims and Activities
Sofia Energy Agency was established in July 2001 under the SAVE II Program of the European Union. As specified in the contract with EU, the newly established agencies, ENERGIEBUREAU LIMBURG (Holland) and APEA (Italy) were partners of SOFENA (Bulgaria) and coordinated their activities during the three years term of the contract.
According to its statute, SOFENA is a non-governmental organization and non-profit legal entity. Its founders are the Sofia Municipality, the State Energy Efficiency Agency, the Sofia district heating utility – “Toplofikacia”, the big private construction company – “Glavbolgarstroy” and 14 private persons (representatives of scientific institutes, universities, consumers and business organizations).
Among the founders are people who have worked for the Energy Efficiency Foundation and have been involved in the development of different projects, important for the City of Sofia.
THE MAIN OBJECTIVES:
- To assist local authorities and municipalities in developing sustainable energy policies;
- To develop models for municipal energy planning and to support the implementation;
- To involve the intellectual potential of Sofia Municipality and other local authorities in solving problems, concerning energy efficiency, energy savings and ecological technologies;
- To reveal possibilities and to participate in projects, financed by foreign institutions, in the area of sustainable energy policy, energy savings and ecology;
- To establish and develop international contacts with related organizations in European Community and other countries for transferring know-how and up-to-date technologies;
- To contribute for the dissemination of positive experience of finalized projects in the area of energy efficiency, new energy sources and clean technologies;
- To initiate, assist, and support scientific and implementation work, research programs and projects in the field of energy efficiency and RES technologies;
- To cooperate with non-profit organizations with similar activities;
- To carry out research and to propose solutions for implementation of new schemes for financing energy efficiency projects;
- To complete preliminary studies for investment projects;
The team of the agency consists of three full-time employees. During the recent years all of them have worked on EU projects on topics as energy management, energy poverty and energy communities.
As a coordinator of the activities in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, SOFENA works in co-operation with specialists from the Sofia Technical University, the Architecture and Construction University, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and with private companies. The Agency work on local, regional, national and international level with partners and strategic investors for all of the above mentioned topics.
THE MAIN ACTIVITIES:
The main activities of the Agency are being carrying out according to a detailed program to cope with the energy problems of the City of Sofia, as follows:
- Assessment of the energy consumption and initiation of energy saving projects in the municipal, residential, industrial and office buildings;
- Assessment of the possibilities for energy savings in Sofia public transport and stimulation of corresponding projects.
- Development of a strategy for achieving energy efficiency of the street lighting;
- Development of proposals and participations in projects for increasing the efficiency of existing energy generating utilities in Sofia Municipality;
- Studies to identify the main transport and industry air pollutants and work out measures for decreasing the pollutions;
- Development of proposals for decreasing environment pollution and its impact on climate change;
- Assessment of the potential for implementation of renewable energy sources and supporting projects in that area.
- Investigations for the implementation of new schemes for financing the energy saving projects, as well as the implementation of flexible mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol;
- Development of proposals for improvement of the legal basis concerning the stimulation of projects for energy efficiency and environment protection.
SOFENA is one of the founders of Association of Bulgarian Energy Agencies – ABEA (established on 10th January 2003) and during the first two years of its work the chairman of the management board was the executive director of SOFENA and the headquarter coincided with SOFENA’s address.
As a member of ABEA, SOFENA takes part in the DG TREN Reflection Group’s activities.(www.managenergy.net)
Contact us on:
E-mail: office@sofena.com
Tel.: +35929434401
Address: 65 “Tsar Ivan Asen II” str., Sofia – 1124, Bulgaria