In Belarus, 25 large-scale energy-efficient projects are planned for implementation in 2013.

May 6, Minsk /BELTA/. The Republican Programme for 2013 envisages the implementation of 25 major energy-efficient projects. This was reported to BELTA by the Department for Energy Efficiency of the State Committee for Standardization.

During the year, in accordance with industry and regional energy saving programmes, the commissioning of 265.5 MW of electricity generating capacity is planned, including block stations with a total electrical capacity of 117.8 MW. According to the results of the first quarter of 2013, 1 project was implemented: at OJSC "Belaruskali", an electrical facility with a capacity of 15 MW was commissioned.

In the first quarter, the largest savings among the main areas of energy saving were achieved through the optimisation of heat supply – 121.4 thousand toe. Slightly lower savings (118 thousand toe) were achieved through the introduction of modern energy-efficient technologies and the improvement of energy efficiency of existing technologies, processes, equipment and materials in production. The third most effective area was the increased use of local fuel and energy resources, with savings of 39.1 thousand toe.

Significant savings over the three months were achieved through energy saving measures such as improving the efficiency of boiler houses and technological furnaces (22.7 thousand toe) and increasing the thermal resistance of enclosing structures of buildings, constructions and housing stock (21.6 thousand toe). The implementation of automatic lighting control systems and energy-efficient lighting devices, and sectional lighting control resulted in savings of 13.9 thousand toe for the quarter, while the commissioning of generating equipment and the transfer of thermal loads from departmental boiler houses to combined heat and power plants led to savings of 9.7 and 9.5 thousand toe, respectively.

Overall, according to the state statistical report Form 4-Energy Saving (State Committee for Standardization) for January-March 2013, savings in fuel and energy resources amounted to 435 thousand toe.

It is also noteworthy that the share of local fuel (LF) in boiler and furnace fuel across the republic is increasing ahead of schedule, reaching 21.7% in the first quarter of 2013, exceeding the target of 21.5%. By the end of the year, declared the Year of Thrift in the country, this indicator is expected to reach 25.5%. This target is stipulated by the Republican Energy Saving Programme.

Among the regions of the country, the Vitebsk, Gomel, and Mogilev Regional Executive Committees, and the Minsk City Executive Committee met the target for the share of LF use set for the first quarter of 2013. The Brest and Grodno Regional Executive Committees did not achieve this indicator. All ministries, concerns, and associations, except for the Ministry of Education, met their quarterly target for increasing the share of LF use.

Within the framework of implementing regional energy-saving programmes at the republic's heat sources, out of the planned 92 boiler units with a total capacity of 241.6 MW to be implemented, 6 boiler units with a total capacity of 16.95 MW were implemented in January-March 2013.-0-