The United States will help Ukrainian communities achieve energy sustainability

The United States will help Ukrainian communities achieve energy sustainability
Katerina Belousova

The USAID support program for 2023 provides for the installation of 69 cogeneration plants

In Ukraine, with the support of the USA, 10 communities are implementing projects to install small and medium-sized cogeneration plants with a total capacity of 9.6 MW and a total investment of €8.3 million.

The development of highly efficient cogeneration is one of the ways to achieve energy sustainability of communities, the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving reports on Facebook.

It is noted that the project on the development of highly efficient cogeneration was discussed at a round table with the participation of representatives of the USAID Energy Security Project, Ukrainian energy departments and local self-government.

Viktor Bilko, deputy head of the State Energy Efficiency Agency, emphasized the importance of energy sustainability in the face of Russian attacks on the energy system. After all, cogeneration plants will allow:

  • develop distributed generation;
  • to develop the "island" of the energy system;
  • to provide heat and electricity to the community, including critical infrastructure facilities

He added that highly efficient cogeneration is one of the priority directions for the State Energy Efficiency Agency. The department works on the legislative field, implementing EU legal norms, and on establishing cooperation with local authorities and involving international partners in projects.

"We are grateful to USAID for helping Ukraine to restore the energy system and develop cogeneration. In fact, this will be the first large-scale project in Ukraine to install cogeneration plants of small and medium power in communities. For our part, we have collected and sent information to our partners about the needs of regions in cogeneration plants We have the first dozen proposals for the implementation of projects for the installation of cogeneration plants with a total capacity of 9.6 MW and a total investment of 8.3 million euros," said Bilko.

According to Kaitlin Kirsch, head of the USAID/Ukraine Economic Growth Office, Russia's target is Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and it is on it that it focuses its attacks. USAID's support program for 2023 includes 69 cogeneration plants for 23 district heating utilities and two universities. This will allow the centralized heating system to work in the absence of electricity.

Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed the law "On the combined production of thermal and electric energy (cogeneration) and the use of waste energy potential" regarding the development of highly efficient cogeneration" (draft law No. 4527).

As EcoPolitic previously reported, Ukraine signed a memorandum with the Lithuanian International Energy Cluster (IEC) on energy efficiency, decarbonization, development of alternative fuels and highly efficient cogeneration.

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