By Olga Rosca
The central Ukrainian city of Dnipro will improve the energy efficiency of public buildings thanks to a €25 million(US$65.62million) loan by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to the municipal energy management company Dniprovska Municipalna Energoservisna Kompanya.
The loan is expected to be complemented by an investment grant of up to €5.5 million from the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) fund, where the European Union is the largest contributor.
Dnipro is planning to refurbish about 100 buildings, including kindergartens, schools and outpatient clinics, which all provide scope for considerable energy efficiency.
The works will be conducted by private contractors selected through a competitive process in line with the EBRD’s procurement policies and rules. Their contracts will be structured similarly to Energy Performance Contracts, a commercial arrangement where a contractor undertakes energy saving upgrades and provides a performance guarantee.
The new loan builds on the successful implementation of a pilot project with Dnipro’s energy management company in 2020. Under the pilot financed by the EBRD, the E5P and the Clean Technology Fund, 33 schools and 48 kindergartens have been refurbished offering more comfort and greater energy efficiency.
Dnipro Deputy Mayor, Eduard Pidlubny said: “Thanks to the agreement between Mayor Borys Filatov and the EBRD, today we signed a loan to finance the second stage of a large energy-saving project in the city’s buildings. This will create conditions that are more comfortable for the residents of our city.”
EBRD Deputy Director for Ukraine, Mark Magaletsky signed the loan in Dnipro and added: “The new financing will allow the city to maintain the pace of its energy efficiency investments in public buildings and will set an example for other Ukrainian cities to follow. Once the projects are completed, the city would have renovated almost 200 public buildings, the largest such effort in Ukraine.”
The EBRD in Ukraine has a strong focus on strengthening the country’s energy efficiency and energy security. The Bank is a leading institutional investor and has invested more than €14.4 billion across 479 projects in Ukraine to date.
