04.10.2018 | News
NEFCO has signed grant agreements with the cities of Bakhmut and Rubizhne for the implementation of energy-efficiency measures. The cities will receive EUR 400,000 and EUR 420,000 in grant financing respectively. The projects will be financed by the Nordic Energy Efficiency and Humanitarian Support Initiative for Ukraine (NIU).
Elementary school No. 10 in the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region is located only 25 kilometres from the contact line between the parties of the ongoing conflict in South-East Ukraine. The school was constructed 20 years ago and currently has over 600 pupils. The façade and the ceilings will both get new insulation, the windows and external doors will be replaced and the finishing works of an entrance and porches will be done. A new heating substation will also be installed.
In Rubizhne, in the region of Luhansk, the street lighting will be modernised and LED lighting installed to increase the energy efficiency as well as the road safety in the city. The stretch of street lighting is over 120 km and includes more than 3,500 individual fixtures that will be replaced with LED fixtures in over 40 streets. Damaged supports and the wire will also be replaced and a lighting control system installed. Furthermore, the traffic lights in the city will be arranged from LED light sources.
Both projects aim to reduce the energy consumption of the cities, and the renovation of school No. 10 will also considerably improve the environment for the schoolchildren and the teachers. The annual CO2 reductions will be 256.6 tonnes in Rubizhne and 88.5 tonnes in Bakhmut after the installed measures. The heat savings for school No. 10 will be over 350 megawatt hours yearly after the renovation is completed, which will result in approx. EUR 18,000 of annual cost savings.
“Good facilities and indoor climate are crucial for learning, and we are very pleased to contribute to a better school day for over 600 children by supporting the refurbishment of school No. 10 in Bakhmut. Through the improvement of lighting infrastructure in Rubizhne, we are also contributing to increased traffic safety for the inhabitants in the city,” comments Amund Beitnes, Senior Investment Manager at NEFCO.
NEFCO has financed 27 projects in 22 cities since the establishment of the NIU funding programme in 2014. In total, EUR 12.7 million in grant financing has been approved. NEFCO has financed a wide range of municipal energy-efficiency projects in Ukraine over the last ten years and is currently financing more than 130 projects in the country.