A Decarbonization and Energy Efficiency Office has been opened in Zhytomyr, the fourth in Ukraine.
The offices are designed to help communities become more energy efficient and energy resilient, which is especially important during the war and reconstruction, the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving reports on Facebook.
The memorandum was signed by the head of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving, Hanna Zamazeyeva, and Zhytomyr Mayor Serhiy Sukhomlyn. Earlier, regional offices were opened in Dnipro, Kropyvnytskyi, and Vinnytsia.
It is noted that thanks to the Office, the community will receive assistance in implementing projects on:
- energy efficiency;
- reduction of carbon emissions;
- investment attraction.
"Energy efficiency is important, that is why it is one of the priorities for Zhytomyr. There is a war in the country, difficult times... But today, energy security is becoming even more important. After our Victory, only an efficient economy and energy-efficient communities will be able to enable business to develop," said Sukhomlin adding that the city passed the 2022-2023 heating season without power outages thanks to previous energy-efficient measures.
Head of the State Energy Efficiency Agency, Hanna Zamazeyeva, emphasized that it is planned to concentrate and scale all Zhytomyr's successes in the field of energy efficiency on the basis of the office. Cooperation between the Agency and the community will cover the following areas:
- implementation of energy management systems, energy certification of buildings, conducting energy audits;
- determining the potential of replacing traditional energy and implementing alternative heat supply: boiler houses and heat pumps, CHP for communities, highly efficient cogeneration, production of energy from waste, production of biogas and biomethane;
- attraction of financing (through the National Decarbonization Platform, ESCO, bonds, crowdfunding, international financial assistance);
- training and professional development of local specialists, popularization.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, Zhytomyr plans to become the first climate-neutral city of Ukraine by 2050 and has already reduced carbon emissions by more than 40%, exceeding the 2022 goal by 30%.