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UOB Launches Financing Platform to Drive Energy Efficiency for Buildings, Home Owners

UOB has launched U-Energy, an integrated financing platform to drive the development and adoption of energy efficiency projects for buildings and homes across four markets, starting in Singapore.

The bank said that this first of its kind financing platform will then be made available in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

While building owners and homeowners may be keen to take on energy efficiency projects to reduce energy consumption, they often lack financing support and the expertise to find the right energy service companies.

U-Energy looks to address this gap as the bank aims to help businesses and homeowners save on electricity bills, cut carbon emissions and achieve their sustainability goals.

At launch, the U-Energy platform will have nine energy service companies that customers can tap for energy efficiency projects.

These U-Energy partners can support common energy efficiency projects such as improving chiller and air conditioning efficiency, installing solar panels on rooftops, switching to LED lights, optimising energy and power management systems and changing the building façade to reflect direct sunlight to reduce heat absorption, as well as replacing elevators with energy-regeneration technology.

Additionally, commercial and industrial building owners can opt for a direct purchase of the energy-efficient equipment or system with UOB’s green financing.

Under this scheme, building owners may obtain a loan of up to S$10 million with a maximum seven-year loan facility where existing UOB customers will be put on a fast-track approval process.

Alternatively, building owners can take up the “energy-as-a-service” model where UOB will provide green loans to the U-Energy partners at no upfront cost to building owners.

For homeowners, UOB offers a zero percent interest instalment plan of up to three years when UOB credit cards are used as the mode of payment for their energy efficiency retrofitting projects.

Frederick Chin

Frederick Chin, Head of Group Wholesale Banking and Markets at UOB said,

“U-Energy is another innovative sustainable financing solution that demonstrates our deep understanding of the sector and the pain points of building and homeowners.

This one-stop solution is part of our Smart City Sustainable Finance Framework, which guides our financing efforts to encourage the development of smart and sustainable cities across the region through a streamlined and transparent process.”