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POLOTSK, 3 August (BelTA) - Experts from the Spanish company Bionet and the Institute of Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) unveiled the provisional sustainable energy action plan for Polotsk as part of the European project SURE. The plan for sustainable energy development is important and much needed for the city, Chairman of the Polotsk City Hall Alexander Poznyak said when opening the meeting. “The investment in innovative energy-saving will serve as an impetus for the development of Polotsk and will bring benefits to its residents,” he said. Having analyzed the current energy consumption, energy conservation and results of the energy audits of 10 facilities in Polotsk carried out by the NASB Institute of Energy, Spanish specialists from Bionet offered the city a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2020 through measures aimed at reducing consumption and promoting the use of renewable energy in the city. In particular, they suggest energy-saving measures for public and residential buildings, the system of urban lighting, urban transport and private motor vehicles, and utilities companies. The experts also suggested wider use of local fuels and renewable energy for electricity generation. Thus, a photoelectric unit which can be mounted in production premises of the motor pool will save 10.2 MWh of electricity a year, with annual 4.63-tonne reduction in CO2 emissions. Installation of a biomass production plant with a granule boiler in the library will allow for conservation of almost 130 MWh of electricity per year and annual CO2 reduction by 26.4 tonnes. Ivan Shchedrenok, Director of the Interaktsia Company, secretary-expert of the project “Sustainable Urban Energy in the Region of the European Neighborhood Partnership Instrument – towards the Covenant of Mayors”, stated that the final sustainable action plan for Polotsk would be presented in October-November. The document is to be approved by the city council of deputies by the end of the year. A pilot project recommended by the experts will be launched after that. The development and implementation of the sustainable energy action plan is an obligatory condition for Polotsk to join the Covenant of Mayors, an initiative of the European cities committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Polotsk plans to join the Covenant of Mayors in September this year as first participant from Belarus. Attending the working meeting were specialists of Polotsk and Vitebsk Oblast, SURE experts from Belarus, Germany and Spain, as well as workers of the NASB Institute of Energy, who are to present the results of the energy audit of ten Polotsk municipal facilities. The participants of the working meeting will discuss the proposals of Belarusian and Spanish experts regarding the pilot energy efficiency project. The SURE budget envisages nearly ?40,000 for the project. The EU project “SURE: Sustainable Urban Energy in the Region of the European Neighborhood Partnership Instrument – towards the Covenant of Mayors” is a part of the EU program “CIUDAD: Cooperation in Urban Development and Dialogue”. The budget of the 2.5-year project is nearly ?790,000. The new initiative will contribute to sustainable energy development of Polotsk and Sale (Morocco) with their further joining of the Covenant of Mayors. The Covenant of Mayors commits its member states to curb their CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020. The partners of the project are Freidrichshafen (the leading partner, Germany), Murcia (Spain), Sale (Morocco), the Polotsk City Hall (Belarus) and the Inter-Mediterranean Commission of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (France).

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