USAID Energy Security Project and the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine to strengthen the capacity of local communities to develop regional energy efficiency programs and local energy plans.
The USAID Energy Security Project and the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine in February conducted a workshop on strengthening the capacity of local communities to introduce energy management systems to promote regional energy efficiency programs and local energy plans. The event was supported by the Ministry for Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine.
The workshop provided an opportunity for international and Ukrainian experts to share their vision of energy management systems in oblasts and local communities and discuss how local authorities will be involved in the development of regional energy efficiency programs and local energy plans.
Kathleen Kirsch, Deputy Director of the Office of Critical Infrastructure at USAID/Ukraine, said: “For USAID ESP, ensuring the energy security of Ukraine and supporting the decarbonization of energy consumption are the key components of their work. Both components depend on activities associated with energy supply and energy consumption. Acting at the national level only will not be enough. That is why it is important to pool efforts at both the regional level and the municipal level to help Ukraine achieve the national goals in the energy and climate domains.” She highlighted that in the current situation enhancing energy efficiency would be critically important for the country’s security. USAID ESP already provides 91 cogeneration units to local communities to enhance energy efficiency and energy resilience at the community level. Ms. Kirsch stressed that, at the same time, strengthening the regional and municipal energy management systems and supporting local authorities in their mid- and long-term energy planning would be crucial. Today, USAID ESP is cooperating with twelve Ukrainian cities, helping them develop heat supply plans and identify the most resource- and cost-efficient solutions to modernize the municipal energy infrastructure and meet the local needs in heating services based on the energy efficiency principle.
First Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Vasyl Shkurakov stated: “Renewal, reform, and development of the municipal energy infrastructure, in particular enhancing the resilience and modernization of the community district heating systems, are the key tasks for the Ministry. The development of flexible and sustainable energy systems employing modern cogeneration technologies based on renewable and alternative sources must become the basis for every such project.” Today, the Ministry, in cooperation with USAID ESP, is introducing distributed generation technologies across various energy sources and considering the potential establishment of energy islands and feasibility studies to raise investments in the future.
Anna Zamazeeva, Head of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine highlighted the importance of strengthening the institutional capacity of territorial communities as without this critical component Ukraine would not be able to meet the key EU integration requirements. “Any funds to implement energy efficiency interventions that a local community can count on will be available only if there is an energy manager. Even the government support to be provided to the local communities from April this year, such as cheap loans to support energy efficiency initiatives, will be available only upon a conclusion of the local energy manager or energy auditor at the community project level,” Ms. Zamazeeva said.
Dmytro Ingul, ESP Deputy Chief of Party, informed the participants of the support that the Project provided to the local communities developing regional heating programs based on energy efficiency strategies. In Khmelnytska Oblast and Ivano-Frankivska Oblast, such programs have been adopted, and the local communities are already developing particular projects and interventions under these programs. “Setting regional and municipal energy management systems is a practical tool for the development and implementation of such programs. Thus, the professional growth of energy managers is the key factor,” Mr. Ingul noted.
Over 260 participants representing local communities, central and regional executive government bodies, international donor organizations, and technical assistance programs (including GIZ and UNDP) in Ukraine, as well as professionals in energy efficiency and energy management, learned about administrative and legal aspects of the development and functioning of energy management systems, the key principles of the development and implementation of the regional energy efficiency programs and the importance of cooperation between municipal and regional energy management systems, as well as the extra-budgetary investments through the energy service mechanism, and the potential of the ESCO-schemes to support energy efficiency projects. The participants also got an overview of the regulatory and methodological frameworks to develop local energy plans and were provided examples of regional energy efficiency and energy management programs in Ivano-Frankivska Oblast, Khmelnytska Oblast, and Volynska Oblast. The representatives of the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine and USAID ESP acquainted the participants with the current legal and regulatory frameworks for introducing energy management systems and local energy planning: https://ips.ligazakon.net/document/RE41590?an=4080
As a result of the discussions, the participants suggested the following.
- Consider the information platform of the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine as a training tool to support courses for energy auditors and energy managers https://uandp.com.ua/courses and recommend the platform for refresher courses for energy managers at the local community level.
- Develop a contemporary methodological guideline for the development of regional energy efficiency programs within the framework of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Energy Efficiency’ using the EU experience of energy system integration strategies (proposed by USAID ESP).
- Highlight the importance of setting national goals on energy efficiency in the development of regional programs. Consider the importance of strengthening the cooperation between municipalities when developing municipal and regional energy plans and programs under the current legislation https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1508-18#Text. A series of seminars on regional energy planning would be appropriate (proposed by the Covenant of Mayors–East).
- Highlight the inexpedience of overregulation, the importance of regional specificity, and the role of proper methodological support for the procedures of gaining access to the information required to develop local energy planning documents (proposed by a member of the Volyn Oblast Rada).
The workshop video is available in the USAID ESP YouTube channel USAID ПЕБ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXdI-cbJJjw.