The Covenant of Mayors Demonstration Projects initiative is designed to provide inspiration to municipalities across the EaP region. The municipalities that obtain funding not only carry out energy efficiency interventions in their towns and cities, but actively share their experiences with others, including the costs and benefits involved, the challenges they meet, and what municipalities should consider when trying to make their cities more financially and environmentally sustainable.

Municipalities in all countries in the region - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – were invited to submit project proposals through 2 Calls for Proposals, launched in 2014 and 2018 respectively. A total of 31 projects, many involving a partnership with civil society organizations, were selected: 17 in Ukraine, 4 in Moldova, 5 in Belarus, 3 in Armenia and 2 in Georgia. The projects encompass a variety of different energy efficiency interventions, involving a range of technologies, some of which we describe here.

Energy efficiency retrofit of public buildings

Many municipal buildings in the region were built at a time when energy was cheap and plentiful and climate change was not yet considered a major issue. Times have changed and heating public buildings has become very costly. In some cases, heating is not available at all, leading to very uncomfortable conditions for people using the building. In schools, poor heating has been identified as a major challenge; children cannot concentrate if they are too cold, and all too often they become ill and have to stay at home.

Relatively simple interventions, such as wall and roof insulation, and substituting draughty windows for double-glazed ones, can go a long way to keeping heat inside the classroom, saving on heating and making the learning experience much more pleasant and rewarding.

Slavutych (Ukraine), Cantemir (Moldova), Telavi (Georgia), Spitak and Vayk (Armenia), and Oshmiany (Belarus) among others, implement Demonstration Projects dealing with retrofitting public buildings.

LED street lighting

LED lamps and fixtures offer two main advantages over previous lighting technologies such as Mercury or Sodium lamps: reduced energy consumption and lower maintenance costs. Although LED lamps cost more per unit, they last a lot longer and consume much less energy, so investments in LED street lighting generally more than pay for themselves in a relatively short period of time.

Tight budgets in many EaP cities have made it difficult to finance the up-front investment needed to switch to LED street lighting. CoM Demonstration Projects in cities such as Polotsk and Beroza (Belarus), Sambir, Mena and Chernivtsi (Ukraine), and Cantemir and Calarasi (Moldova) use project funding for this initial investment. Importantly, they also fully document costs, savings and payback times, helping other cities to prepare more credible and ‘bankable’ proposals for banks, donors and other investors.

Heating systems

Energy consumption for heating and hot water in Ukraine is almost twice as high as in EU countries with a similar climate (UNECE, 2004) and the situation is similar in many other EaP countries. District heating (DH) systems and networks are often out-dated and poorly insulated and lose up to 30% of heat during distribution. Generally, coal-powered, DH systems account for 20% of total CO₂ emissions and over 80% of methane from fossil fuels. Energy costs, artificially low for decades, are now crippling many municipalities, making investment in modernizing district heating systems a priority for reasons of both financial and environmental sustainability.

Zhovkva and Gola Prystan (Ukraine) and Festelita (Moldova) are among the eight Demonstration Project cities working on more energy-efficient heating systems.

Solar energy

All countries in the Eastern Partnership region have good potential for producing energy from renewable sources, including wind and solar energy. Falling prices for photovoltaic cells mean solar energy is a more affordable option for EaP municipalities and households.

The city of Yerevan, as well as the towns of Artik and Aparan (Armenia) are Demonstration Project cities fully focusing on solar energy, while also Festelita (Moldova) has a solar park component.

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Covenant Signatories, Coordinators and Supporters from the Covenant of Mayors in former East bloc and post-soviet countries.

The cooperation platform is an e-mail discussion list targeted at signatories of the Covenant of Mayors from the former East Bloc and post-soviet countries. These municipalities share a common history and former administrative structure, which influence the operational framework of these local authorities until today. The cooperation platform gives signatories the possibility to exchange with each other on the topics of BEI/SEAP elaboration and implementation and monitoring. It should especially enable beginners to receive advice from frontrunners.

National energy agencies can be involved as 'Covenant Coordinators'.

Local and regional energy agencies can become Covenant Supporter by signing a commitment document in which they engage in supporting local and regional authorities on their territories. More information on the procedure here.

Achieving the requirements and objectives of the Covenant of Mayors does not only require political commitment, but also technical capacities. Local and regional energy agencies have been active in these fields for decades and their knowledge and expertise in local energy policy could be very useful for the Covenant signatories. Hence the Covenant of Mayors is a good opportunity for Energy Agencies to have their role better recognized and to gain more visibility to their actions.

Local and regional energy agencies should play a double role deriving from their missions: first, as promoters of the Covenant of Mayors towards the cities and towns in their areas, and second, as providers of technical expertise for the Covenant signatories, especially those lacking the necessary financial and/or human resources to fulfill their commitments under the Covenant.

Hence, LAREAs are encouraged to enter (re)new(ed) cooperation agreements directly with the public authority (ies) of their territory to support them in achieving the requirements and objectives of the Covenant of Mayors. LAREAs can become Covenant Supporters and can also work in close co-operation with the Covenant Coordinators, acting as their armed wing to deliver technical support to Covenant signatories.