€4m worth of equipment for Belarus under EU energy efficiency project

Equipment worth €4 million will be delivered to Belarus under the EU’s project “Support in the field of norms and standards related to energy efficiency of consumer goods and industrial products”, Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus Ambassador Maira Mora told media on 15 October, BelTA has learnt.

Equipment will be delivered to central and regional laboratories of the State Committee for Standardization of Belarus to upgrade the national energy efficiency testing base.

Experts will provide assistance in such areas as strengthening the status of the national testing laboratory network, implementation of a modernization program, upgrading of Belarus’ testing capacity. To get familiar with EU practices on-the-job training sessions will be organized in the European leading institutes as well as training workshops. Awareness campaigns are planned for consumers. The project is run by German company GIZ and Bellis testing center.

“Energy policy, energy efficiency, environmental protection and related issues have long expanded beyond the national borders and turned global. The EU has gained rich experience in the field, and we hail the intention of our neighbors, and Belarus in particular, to study and implement the relevant international and European regulatory, technical and administrative mechanisms,” Maira Mora said.

Belarus will be offered a European expertise and consultations for strengthening the status of its energy efficiency testing laboratory network. “It will be made possible by promotion accreditation in accordance with internationally recognized procedures. It is worth mentioning that the project will foster public recognition of test-backed energy efficiency as an essential element in any sphere,” Maira Mora added. Among the objectives of the project is fostering strengthened participation of local and central authorities, private sector and civil society in addressing energy saving issues.

According to the Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus Ambassador, experts take into account the country’s needs formulated in the national documents. In particular, the project will contribute to the implementation of the national energy saving program for 2011-2015 and the program to develop a system of rate setting, standardization and conformity assessment in energy efficiency in 2011-2015.

“Implementation of energy saving projects envisages huge investment, and it is well worth the effort as all the expenditure pays back,” Maira Mora stressed.

First Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Standardization of Belarus Valery Gurevich noted that the project would promote innovation development of the sector: “We will have to develop laboratories almost from scratch to test equipment and its parameters which either have not been tested before or have been tested in foreign laboratories. This is an innovative component of the project.” According to Valery Gurevich, the project will focus on the development of a new system of standards related to rating and monitoring energy efficiency parameters of various groups of technical equipment, implementation of additional technologies to assess energy efficiency of houses.

Once all EU energy efficiency requirements are fulfilled, the potential energy saving level can reach 1,700 GWh per year (equivalent to €130 million). Experts believe that implementation of energy saving technologies in designing houses and energy consumption control systems at companies will promote considerable economic effects.

The project “Support in the field of norms and standards related to energy efficiency of consumer goods and industrial products” is implemented in cooperation with the European Union and Belarusian government bodies in line with Belarus’ annual action plan approved in 2010. The project is envisaged for the implementation of three out of four components of the EU’s program “Support to Belarus in the field of norms and standards related to energy efficiency of consumer goods and industrial products”.