19.10.2021 | News
Energy-efficient, modernised day-care centres, schools, and culture and sport facilities in the city of Lutsk will significantly reduce heat and electricity consumption, decrease CO2 emissions and improve the learning environment for over 26,000 children and teachers in the city.
Lutsk is a city in north-western Ukraine with approx. 217,000 inhabitants. Prior to the project implementation, the city struggled with high energy consumption, mainly from heating its public buildings. Due to worn-out facades, roofs, windows and doors, as well as energy-intensive kitchen equipment and inefficient indoor lighting in the buildings, there were large heat and electricity losses. In addition, low indoor temperatures in combination with worn-out heating and ventilation systems meant that the old buildings did not offer good learning environments for the children in the city.
Today, the energy-efficiency project in Lutsk, with over 30 renovated educational, culture and sport buildings and facilities, has been inaugurated in the city, together with all the project partners. The project has been financed with contributions from Sweden, the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P), the city and Nefco. Norway is a donor to E5P and, together with Sweden and the other Nordic countries, an owner country of Nefco.
“Sweden is a large contributor to energy-efficiency modernisations in Ukraine, in both public buildings and district heating, as well as the initiator of the E5P fund during the Swedish EU chairmanship in 2009. As one of the project financiers, we are very happy to see the result of Sweden’s contribution and be part of the project inauguration, which we expect to have a large environmental and social impact on the city,” commented Tobias Thyberg, Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine at the inauguration in Lutsk.
“We are cooperating with Nefco and supporting energy-efficiency investments in several cities across Ukraine. Through the Norway-Ukraine Energy Efficiency Initiative (NUEE), a similar investment is currently being implemented in the nearby city of Rivne. By financing more energy-efficient public buildings we support the development of municipal infrastructure and services. Better energy efficiency also contributes to less energy imports and improved energy self-sufficiency and security for Ukraine”, explained Erik Svedahl, Ambassador of Norway to Ukraine in Lutsk.
Nefco started its cooperation with the city of Lutsk in 2013 and signed the loan agreement for the current project in May 2018. Based on the conducted feasibility study, financed by Sweden, it was decided to focus on educational, culture and sport buildings and facilities, including day-care centres, schools, art and music schools, as well as a public swimming pool. In total, 31 buildings were included in the project, of these, 27 buildings were fully renovated, 21 buildings received new individual heat substations with smart weather-dependent heat consumption regulation, and 4 buildings had renovated heat pipelines.
“By implementing this project, we pursued several goals. The first was energy savings. Today, the price of gas in Ukraine has reached a historic high, and all the educational institutions are heated with contributions from the city budget. The second goal was practical, as there had been constant complaints from many schools and day-care centres about non-compliance with the indoor temperature levels during wintertime. As part of the implemented project, all old windows and doors were replaced, and roofs and facades insulated and overhauled. The third goal concerned the aesthetics. The appearance of these educational institutions changes the look of the neighbourhoods in which they are located. We have made good progress, but there are still further educational, cultural, medical and sport institutions and facilities that need to be renovated by installing energy-efficiency measures. We are very grateful for the support from Nefco and all project donors and look forward to continuing our cooperation,” said Ihor Polishchuk, Lutsk City Mayor in connection with the inauguration.
The total project investment is EUR 9.5 million (approx. UAH 295 million). In addition to Nefco’s loan financing of EUR 5 million (approx. UAH 156 million), the project has been grant financed by E5P with EUR 1.3 million (approx. UAH 41 million), by Sweden with EUR 0.4 million (approx. UAH 12.2 million) for technical assistance and project preparation and implementation support, and by the city itself with EUR 2.8 million (approx. UAH 85.3 million).
“We are delighted to see the results of this socially important investment for the city of Lutsk. Energy-efficiency improvements and district hearting rehabilitation are two main priority sectors for the E5P fund, which is supporting Ukraine with grants of close to EUR 140 million. These types of investments not only improve the lives of people living in Ukraine but also play a crucial role in addressing climate change, reforms and overall decarbonisation of the country,” commented Kateryna Stasiuk, E5P Principal Manager at the inauguration in Lutsk.
The project will have a big environmental and social impact for the city and its inhabitants. The implemented energy-efficiency measures are expected to result in annual reductions of about 11,000 MWh in heat, 600 MWh in electricity and 4,300 tonnes in CO2 emissions. This will decrease the annual costs for the city but, most importantly, it has created good and comfortable learning environments for over 26,000 schoolchildren and teachers in the city.
“We are very pleased to be able to celebrate the successful project implementation together with all the project donors and partners in Lutsk today. The project will have a big impact for many inhabitants in the city and is an important step in the city’s transition towards a sustainable future. Good and effective cooperation with the city and all the project partners has enabled this large-scale, energy-efficiency project to be implemented in about two years, and under challenging circumstances due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” commented Amund Beitnes, Investment Director at Nefco in connection to the inauguration.
The implemented energy-efficiency project in the city of Lutsk is the third completed Nefco project in cooperation with E5P. Overall, Nefco has so far implemented over 170 projects in Ukraine since 2010, and it is continuing to cooperate with Ukrainian municipalities, supporting them in their energy-efficiency improvements related to public buildings, district heating, and water and wastewater treatments.
More information
Download a project fact sheet
Watch project video
Read the press release from the project signing
For further information, please contact:
Ulf Bojö, Vice President, Green Transition Eastern Europe, Nefco
ulf.bojo@nefco.int, +358 10 6180 637
About Nefco
Nefco is an international financial institution (IFI) founded in 1990. Our task is to work with concrete actions to accelerate the green transition, and we serve the interests of our owners, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. We have financed more than 1,500 private and public projects across various sectors. By focusing on small and medium-sized projects with tangible results, we have been able to demonstrate how to implement energy-saving and environmental projects in a sustainable and cost-efficient way. We evaluate the impact against the EU Taxonomy, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and our own environmental criteria. Read more about us on www.nefco.int.
About E5P
The Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) is a multi-donor and multi-International Financial Institution (IFI) support fund created thanks to an initiative of the Swedish Presidency of the European Union in 2009. The E5P fund for Ukraine totals EUR 137.5 million, representing pledges made by the European Union as the largest contributor to the fund and Sweden as the largest bilateral contributor supporting Ukraine, as well as Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United States. Ukraine is also a donor to E5P with EUR 20 million. The E5P grants are used alongside the IFI loans to complement municipal infrastructure investments to boost Ukraine’s energy efficiency while also having a beneficial impact on the environment and combating climate change. Until today, there are 25 investment projects supported by E5P across Ukraine with a total investment volume of EUR 960 million.
Photo: Day-care centre No. 9 – City of Lutsk