12.05.2021 | News
Energy-efficiency modernisations in public health care facilities and to city street lighting have been implemented in the city of Sloviansk in Eastern Ukraine, resulting in improved comfort for hospital patients during the ongoing pandemic and cost savings for the city.
Hospital buildings Nos. 1, 2 and 4 were constructed over 30 years ago, and their poor insulation meant they were very cold inside and highly inefficient to heat; therefore urgent renovations were needed.
Nefco’s cooperation with Sloviansk, a city with some 100,000 inhabitants of which almost 40,000 are internally displaced people, started back in 2016. The measures implemented in the city have been financed by grants from the Nordic Initiative for Energy Efficiency and Humanitarian Support in Ukraine (NIU) and the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership Fund (E5P) totalling EUR 715,000. The total project investment was approx. EUR 1 million.
“Thanks to the modernised hospital buildings, including the new ventilation and air exchange tank installations, insulated facades and new windows, we experience normal indoor temperatures. This means that we can now treat patients and people diagnosed with COVID-19 as well as carry out vaccinations in renovated and comfortable facilities, which allows us to take important safety measures into account,” said Sergey Agapov, Chief Doctor of the Center for Primary Health Care of the city of Sloviansk.
In addition to the hospital renovations, the city street lighting was modernised in districts affected by military activity. The city has replaced 660 lighting fixtures with energy-efficient LED lighting, which has resulted in significant improvements in traffic safety.
“This project is one of the largest to be implemented with NIU grant financing. Results-oriented collaborations between Nefco, city representatives, consultants and contractors have enabled the project to be successfully completed and will bring energy savings and comfortable conditions to patients and hospital staff,” commented Iryna Fedorenko, Investment Advisor at Nefco Representative Office in Ukraine.
The modernisations have led to important reductions in energy usage and cost savings for the city of Sloviansk. The implemented measures will result in some 600 Gcal annual heat savings for the renovated buildings and some 400 MWh annual electricity savings for the modernised street lighting network. The reductions will lead to EUR 55,700 annual cost savings for the city administration. The project has also supported the development of self-governance in the city and substantially improved social infrastructure by raising the level of municipal health care services and overall comfort and security for inhabitants.
About the Nordic Initiative for Energy Efficiency and Humanitarian Support in Ukraine (NIU)
The foreign ministers of the Nordic countries decided in 2014, on Norway’s initiative, to launch a grant-financed programme for urgent investments needed in Eastern Ukraine. The emphasis was initially on fully grant-financed projects in the five regions closest to the conflict zone. Since then, the programme has grant-financed 41 projects for urgent renovations of public buildings and street lighting systems in 29 cities, of which 28 projects have already been implemented. Read more about the NIU programme.
Photo: Sloviansk hospital buildings No. 1 and 2 / iC Consulenten for Nefco