USAID to help Ukraine reform its district heating sector
MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) - The Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine and the USAID Energy Security Project have signed a memorandum of understanding to restore, reform and develop the communities' energy and municipal infrastructure and to maintain energy sustainability, Ukrainian media said, citing the ministry's press service.
"Reforming the energy sector according to the best practices of the European Union, optimization of the municipal heat supply system of Ukraine, popularization of large-scale introducing a decentralized energy supply, integrating various renewable energy sources, and increasing energy efficiency will contribute to the de-carbonization of the energy system and increase Ukraine's energy security," Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Alexander Butenko said.
The United States Agency for International Development, through its Energy Security Project, will support the Ukrainian Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development in reforming the country's district heating sector. The focus is on enhancing energy sustainability through prioritizing the concepts of energy infrastructure projects at the municipal level to ensure economically sound and financially sustainable distributed energy generation, including integrated distributed cogeneration, and to promote the use of diverse energy sources. Cogeneration will play a pivotal role in reducing power interruptions during emergencies and ensuring a continuous power supply to critical infrastructure facilities in local communities.
"To improve the resilience of heating infrastructure and ensure energy supply to critical infrastructure facilities in local communities, we will focus on developing a pipeline of investment projects for distributed cogeneration using diverse energy sources and building technical capacity for municipalities and sector stakeholders in addition to a specific focus on developing regulations for distributed cogeneration in district heating systems," USAID Energy Security Project Chief of Party Michael Trainor said.
The memorandum paves the way both for cooperation to meet immediate needs and assistance in strategic planning for the recovery and reform of the energy and heat supply sector.