This year's hostile attacks on energy infrastructure facilities, as well as after the 2022 blackouts, have once again raised the issue of introducing energy-saving technologies and equipping various buildings with alternative sources of electricity, UNN writes.
Ukraine has a national energy efficiency action plan until 2030, which aims to reduce primary energy consumption by 22.3% and final energy consumption by 17.1%. At the same time, the Energy Strategy of Ukraine until 2050 stipulates that post-war recovery should take place in line with European energy efficiency standards.
As part of the EU's energy assistance plan, more than ten thousand generators and transformers have already been shipped to Ukraine. It is planned that more than 25% of Ukraine's electricity needs will be covered by EU assistance through repairs and connection to the European grid. The EU's financial assistance to Ukraine's energy system will amount to about UAH 160 million.
Of course, support for the Ukrainian energy sector at the national and international level is important. However, this does not mean that communities should rely solely on the central government in this matter, but rather look for ways to implement energy efficiency and energy saving projects within the framework of international cooperation. In this case, we are talking about critical infrastructure facilities.
Currently, various international organizations and financial institutions offer a large number of grant and attractive loan programs in this area. Twin cities also help Ukrainian communities implement such projects. These include the provision of power generators, transformer substations, installation of solar panels, building insulation, etc.
It all depends on the willingness of local authorities to look for such projects and agree on their implementation in their communities.
The Brovary community is an example of such active work. In particular, in just four months, with the assistance of the RePower Ukraine Charitable Foundation and the support of international donors, Brovary managed to implement a solar power plant project for the city's multidisciplinary clinical hospital. At the end of July this year, the medical facility was equipped with solar panels and a 24 kW autonomous power plant with an additional 29 kWh backup system, which will provide a significant portion of the facility's energy needs in the event of power outages.
"Just the other day, our children's hospitalreceived its own solar power plant. We installed 108 solar panels with a capacity of 585 W each on the building. We implemented this project with the assistance of our Polish partners from the Yellow-blue Force Foundation and the NGO Ecoclub.
I would also like to remind you that Brovaryteplovodoenergia received five generators thanks to the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). We also received generators as part of our cooperation with the German cities of Erlangen and Jena, as well as the Lan Dill district.
Also, with the participation of German and Swiss partners, a memorandum was signed under which our kindergarten Kapitoshka will receive funds to install two solar power plants with a capacity of 15 kW and 20 kW. This will allow the institution to save electricity by almost 50%, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 21%, provide the preschool with uninterrupted hot water supply and, most importantly, reduce the institution's utility costs.
And these are just a few examples of our cooperation with international partners in the field of energy efficiency and energy independence in our community. We are actively preparing several more projects for implementation. We are constantly looking for programs we can join. We are doing everything in our power to ensure that critical infrastructure facilities operate as smoothly as possible in the event of power outages," said Brovary Mayor Ihor Sapozhko in a commentary to UNN.