02.07.2019 | News
NEFCO continues its successful cooperation with the city of Rivne in Western Ukraine on energy-efficiency measures implemented in public buildings. A feasibility study will be conducted for a new investment project, which will include thermo-renovation of schools, day-care centres and hospitals in the city.
The project is currently being prepared in cooperation with the Swedish consulting company Sweco and the Ukrainian company Garde. Sweden has allocated technical assistance for project preparation and implementation support.
“The city has joined the EU initiative Covenant of Mayors, developed a Municipal Programme of Sustainable Development, and has invested large funds in energy-efficient projects. Following up on these initiatives, the city has allocated over 50 per cent of the total project costs from the city budget to on-going joint projects with NEFCO,” commented Volodymyr Khomko, Mayor of Rivne in connection to the kick-off meeting for the new investment project.
NEFCO has previously financed the thermo-renovation of three school buildings in the city, schools No. 18, No. 26 and No. 27, through its Energy Saving Credits loan programme. The total financing for the projects have been UAH 20,785 million, approx. EUR 700,000. The city has been contributing over UAH 11 million, approx. EUR 370,000 in addition to the NEFCO loans provided.
The comprehensive thermo-renovation of the building envelopes will extend the lifetime of the renovated school buildings. The implemented measures include insulation of exterior walls, insulation of roofs, replacement of inefficient windows and doors, and a set of other smaller improvement measures.
The city of Rivne will achieve significant cost savings from saved heat consumption. The first three renovated school buildings will reduce the heat consumption for the city by 1,500 Gcal annually. This will contribute to over 500 tonnes of annual CO2 reductions. Altogether, almost 2,900 schoolchildren will benefit from the improvements in schools No. 18, No. 26 and No.27.
“We are very pleased to see happy students who really like to be in their schools now that the conditions of the learning environment have been improved considerably within the two first NEFCO projects,” says Julia Shevchuk, Chief Investment Adviser at NEFCO’s office in Kyiv.
“Thanks to the joint implementation of energy-efficiency projects, Ukrainian cities are learning to attract smart investments, best practices of project management and international procurement rules. We believe that the positive experience with the renovations of the first three school buildings can be successfully replicated in other buildings in the city of Rivne as well”, Shevchuk continues.
Through the Energy Saving Credits loan programme, NEFCO has financed 42 projects in 35 Ukrainian cities over the last ten years. In total, about EUR 20 million has been approved for financing. NEFCO has also through its other loan programmes invested in a wide range of municipal energy-efficiency projects in Ukraine since 2010, and its current project portfolio in the country includes over 150 public and private projects.
Photo: The renovated school No.18 in Rivne, Ukraine – Alexey Dumik, NEFCO.