Efficient use of thermal energy is everyone's concern

The President of Belarus has signed Decree No. 327 "On Improving the Energy Efficiency of Apartment Buildings", which defines the conditions and mechanisms for the participation of owners of residential and non-residential premises in financing energy-efficient measures. The purpose of the measures is to reduce the consumption of thermal energy and, as a consequence, to reduce heating costs and improve the consumer characteristics of apartment buildings.

In accordance with the Decree, the decision to carry out such measures is made on a voluntary basis by a general meeting of co-owners, if owners holding more than two-thirds of the votes from their total number have voted for it. The Decree provides that the financing of the implementation of energy-efficient measures will be carried out at the expense of local budgets and other sources, including borrowed funds from international credit and financial organizations. Owners will subsequently reimburse the costs (part of the costs).

For the implementation of energy-efficient measures, owners will conclude contracts. However, refusal to conclude a contract will not exempt owners from reimbursing costs.
Costs will be reimbursed by owners only after the completion of work to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. The amount of reimbursement will be determined in proportion to the share of each owner in the total area of residential and (or) non-residential premises.

The Decree establishes a reimbursement procedure, according to which the reimbursement of costs is carried out monthly in equal installments by owners:
non-residential premises – in full within 3 years;
residential premises – at least 50% (the amount is determined by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus) within 10 years. The installment plan can be extended by local authorities up to 15 years for low-income and socially vulnerable citizens.

Currently, the Department for Energy Efficiency, together with other government bodies, is developing an action plan for the implementation of the provisions of the Decree.

According to research conducted by World Bank specialists in conjunction with the Department for Energy Efficiency, in

The building sector in Belarus represents a significant potential source of energy savings. Approximately 80% of the housing stock was built before 1996. Building thermal protection standards were significantly increased in 1993 and updated in 2010. The specific heat energy consumption of buildings constructed before 1996 is, on average, twice as high as that of recently built ones. Comprehensive thermal rehabilitation of these facilities will save more than 5% of the republic's final energy consumption, or about 12.0 thousand GWh per year. Therefore, priority heat modernization efforts are planned to be carried out in the building sector constructed before 1996. It should be noted that within the framework of state programs, comprehensive thermal modernization has already been carried out on approximately 10% of the area of this housing stock. A list of measures to be implemented to improve the consumer characteristics of apartment buildings will be determined by a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus. This will include areas such as insulation of structural elements of the building (walls, roof, and others), installation and technical modernization of individual heating units, reconstruction and technical modernization of the building's heating and hot water supply system, installation of heat recovery systems, etc. Mogilev and Grodno regions have been designated as pilot regions for developing the implementation mechanisms of Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 327 of September 4, 2019. Financing will be provided by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank within the framework of the joint project "Expanding Sustainable Energy Use." Two options for thermal modernization are envisaged. Package A will include measures eligible for an estimated 30% capital subsidy from the state to finance a limited set of thermal modernization measures: creation of automated heating units, installation of thermostatic regulators and necessary modernization of heating system pipes in individual apartments, replacement of entrance doors and windows in stairwells, as well as otherassociated low-cost measures, including necessary capital repairs.

Package B will include measures eligible for an estimated 50 percent capital subsidy from the state. This package, in addition to Package A, will typically include thermal insulation of the roof, external walls, and basement ceilings, as well as the replacement of windows in individual apartments (the full cost of which will have to be paid by the homeowners themselves).

Both packages will include, as an option for homeowners, the installation of individual heat meters and the implementation of a system for calculating heating costs based on actual consumption at the apartment level.

In the Vitebsk region, in anticipation of the Decree's implementation, lists of residential buildings are being compiled with the determination of their energy efficiency classes, and interactive energy maps of the housing stock of settlements are being developed. Analysis of energy consumption by the population. Analytical materials are provided in Appendices 1-3.