A boarding school in Shchaslyve village in Kyiv Oblast cut its heating expenses by 25 percent last winter. To do that, the school switched from burning natural gas to wood pellets, biofuel derived from wood waste.
The swap has also helped the school provide a warmer place for its 1,000 students. Heated with the wooden pellets, the halls stayed at 18-20 degrees Celsius last winter, while when heated with gas, the temperature often dropped to as low as 10 degrees, according to school principal Yuriy Yovbak.
The change in the school was implemented by Ukrteplo, an alternative energy company that operates in 16 out of 24 oblasts in Ukraine. The company installed a solid-fuel boiler at the school and supplies it with wood pellets.
The school spent nothing on the new boiler, as Ukrteplo installs them free of charge at state-run establishments and makes money by selling pellets. It also does the maintenance free of charge.
He heard about the wood pellets from a friend who was already using them, and he jumped at the opportunity. The school started cooperation with Ukrteplo a year and a half ago. The company started by building a boiler house for the school.
“We saved nearly Hr 300,000 last year, but it is not about money. Now, the temperature is nearly 20 degrees in winter,” Yovbak said.
Additionally, the school now can adjust the indoor temperature in accordance with the weather conditions, which saves both energy and money.
According to Ukrteplo, only 4.5 percent of all the heating in Ukraine comes from renewable energy sources. In Sweden, for comparison, the share is 50 percent.
Ukrteplo chairman Ivan Nadeyin exported wood pellets to Poland, Italy and the Scandinavian countries since 2008. But only in 2011 he founded Ukrteplo and began building boilers in Ukraine.
“When the price of imported Russian natural gas went up, we saw an opportunity in Ukraine and started installing boilers and providing heating services in homes,” said Nadeyin.
Since 2011, Ukrteplo helped more than 400 municipal companies switch from heating their buildings by burning natural gas to using cheaper solid fuel. The company claims they help municipal establishments save up to 40 percent on their heating bills.
In 2015 alone, the company helped cut an estimated 37 million cubic meters in natural gas consumption by government-owned establishments, and as a result saved Hr 23 million, according to Ukrteplo’s own data.
Ukrteplo is a vertically integrated company that produces boilers, provides its own wood and makes pellets and other fuel. It also has a logistics branch that delivers fuel to customers. Many of their boilers run on pellets produced from willow trees – chosen because they grow so quickly. The firm also produces boilers that run on biomass and exports its boilers to the U.K.
Over the last year, gas prices have dropped on cheaper oil, shrinking the market for Ukrteplo as potential customers have fewer incentives to switch to alternative fuel when gas prices are not exorbitant. With that in mind, Ukrteplo does not expect to bring in many new customers in the coming year, and instead plans to focus on improving their logistics in the meantime.
In Junem Ukrteplo signed an agreement with Kara Energy Systems, a Dutch manufacturer of renewable heating and electricity equipment, to jointly produce boilers for industrial consumers in Ukraine.
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach
can be reached at [email protected]
