Ukraine: Emerging Market For Industrial Energy Efficiency Opportunities

Abstract

As part of the energy assistance program to help Ukraine shut down the Chernobyl nuclear reactors, the US Department of Energy (DOE) asked the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to identify and appraise industrial energy efficiency projects in Ukraine. Most industrial enterprises in Ukraine use energy very inefficiently because the former communist system provided few incentives to conserve energy or even account for its cost. However, few industrial enterprises have the money necessary for large-scale energy-efficiency improvements. Therefore, one of the main goals of this DOE-funded program is to help the most promising enterprises obtain financing for energy efficiency projects from a variety of financial institutions, or through new, creative financing mechanisms. The program has involved several site visits to different industrial plants in Ukraine to gather preliminary data on the facilities. Among the plants visited were a glass manufacturing plant, a coke-chemical plant, a tire factory, a food processing plant, a paper mill, an alumina plant, an iron mine, a metallurgical firm, and a steel cable factory. Results of a detailed engineering analysis and a financial assessment of each plant led to a prioritized list of recommended energy efficiency measures. The measures recommended thus far include replacing an existingmore » steam plant with a base-load gas turbine cogeneration plant, replacing an existing compressed-air system with high-efficiency equipment, upgrading the glass process furnaces, upgrading the lighting system, and installation of heat recovery systems. This article describes the process of identifying opportunities and discusses the recommendations made to plant managers at two of these facilities. The article also provides an update on the implementation plans for some of the recommended energy efficiency measures at these industrial enterprises.« less