Climate policy issues, the introduction of modern energy-efficient technologies and the reconstruction of communities became key during the meeting of the Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery of Ukraine – Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba with the Federal Minister for the Environment, Climate, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany Carsten Schneider.
“For Ukraine, climate policy, energy efficiency and reconstruction are parts of a single chain of resilience. Russian aggression caused large-scale losses to infrastructure, so we are rebuilding the country immediately according to European standards – with an emphasis on energy efficiency and modern technologies. Our common priority is green recovery: recovery taking into account the economy, ecology and development of communities. I thank the Government of Germany for its support and partnership,” said Oleksiy Kuleba.
One of the priorities of the cooperation is the Renewable Energy Solutions (RES) program, for the implementation of which a grant of 16.5 million euros has been allocated. These are energy-efficient solutions for educational and medical institutions, thanks to which they can not only meet their own electricity needs, but also transfer excess solar energy to the general grid. The possibility of scaling this experience, in particular to frontline communities, is currently being considered.
The meeting discussed strengthening the institutional capacity of communities. Within a year after the launch of the Building Database, more than 10,000 objects were registered with a detailed description of their energy characteristics. Eight “Energy Innovation Hubs” have also been created, and more than a thousand community representatives have already been trained in effective work with the state monitoring system.
In addition, the ministry is preparing to launch a specialized IT platform of the Energy Efficiency Fund, which will automate the application processes and significantly simplify the access of condominiums to financial grants.
Special attention during the dialogue was paid to the development of distributed generation. The installation of heat pumps, solar power plants and energy storage systems for social infrastructure is critical for the survival of communities in the face of constant attacks on the energy system. In this context, Ukraine is counting on further attraction of resources within the E5P fund.
Also on the agenda is waste management reform. More than 1,300 specialized facilities and hundreds of pieces of equipment were damaged due to hostilities. Using Germany’s experience in this area will help build a modern system for processing demolition waste and household waste. (Development Ministry)