Spanish experts will help Polotsk develop a sustainable energy development plan

January 19, Polotsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Spanish experts will help Polotsk develop a sustainable energy development plan, Deputy Chairman of the Polotsk City Executive Committee Nikolai Ilyushenok told a BELTA correspondent following a working meeting of experts on the development of a sustainable energy development plan for Polotsk. The plan will allow Polotsk to implement a number of energy-saving projects that will help meet the parameters defined by the program of socio-economic development of Belarus for the period up to 2015. The list of projects will be determined after an energy audit of buildings and structures. Belarusian and Spanish specialists are expected to participate in its implementation, in particular, the well-known European company "Bionet". The meeting of experts is held within the framework of the international launch conference of the European Union project "SURE: Sustainable Energy Development in Cities of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument Region - on the Path to the Covenant of Mayors", which concludes its work in Polotsk today. The project is implemented under the EU program "CIUDAD: Cooperation and Dialogue in Urban Development" and brings together six partners from five countries: Germany, Spain, Belarus, Morocco, and France. The SURE project is designed for two and a half years, its budget is about 620 thousand euros. The leading partner of the project is the German city of Friedrichshafen, a twin city of Polotsk. The new initiative is designed to promote the sustainable energy development of two cities - Polotsk and Salé (Morocco) by joining the Covenant of Mayors. Cities joining the Covenant of Mayors undertake to implement the EU strategy known as "20-20-20". The goal of this strategy is to achieve significant improvements in sustainable energy development by 2020: reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20%, increase the share of alternative energy sources to 20%, and improve energy efficiency by 20%. The heads of 2181 cities in Europe and EU neighboring countries have signed the Covenant of Mayors. It is planned that the city of Polotsk will become the first Belarusian participant in this agreement. The conference is attended by representatives of regional and local authorities of Belarus, Morocco, Germany and Spain, ministries and departments, the delegation of the European Commission in Belarus, as well as institutions, organizations and experts working in the field of energy. -0-