Energy-saving measures save 635,000 tonnes of reference fuel in Belarus in January-September

Minsk, November 13 - Neftegaz.RU. Belarus saved 635,000 tonnes of reference fuel in January-September thanks to energy-saving measures, BelTA learned from Deputy Chairman of the State Standardization Committee of Belarus, Director of the Energy Effectiveness Department Mikhail Malashenko.

The official said: “We intend to save at least 5 million tonnes of reference fuel in the current 5-year term. We've already saved 635,000 tonnes in January-September 2019.” There are plans to save at least 1 million tonnes of reference fuel this year.

Mikhail Malashenko explained that 1 million tonnes of reference fuel would be enough for heating about 7 million m2 of living area with the energy consumption of 100kW per 1m2. This amount of fuel would be enough for heating about 3.5 million m2 of living area in residential houses with poor energy effectiveness and energy consumption of 200kW per 1m2. “In other words, a city of 60,000-100,000 people,” Mikhail Malashenko added.

He reminded that 5-year-long energy saving programs have been implemented in Belarus since 1996. The key goal is to save at least 5 million tonnes of reference fuel per 5 years (or at least 1 million tonnes per year). The total amount of fuel saved in 1996-2015 thanks to these programs stands at 24 million tonnes.

According to the source, fuel is primarily saved when enterprises embrace new energy-effective technologies. Fuel is also saved when heating networks are optimized and gas-fired boilers are switched to locally available fuels, the official explained. The same principles remain in place for the current 5-year term as well.