Municipal Network for Energy Efficiency

The National Program on Energy Saving and Renewable Energy Was Approved by the Armenian Government

At the January 18 session of the Armenian Government, the National Program on Energy Saving and Renewable Energy (ESRE) was approved. The Program document can be found online in English and Armenian . The appropriate government stakeholder agencies were assigned a five-month period to develop specific measures for implementation of the program within their respective fields of regulation and to submit those to the Minister of Energy of RA for coordination ( http://www.gov.am).

The ESRE National Program was developed with technical assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) within the framework of the Municipal Network for Energy Efficiency (MUNEE) implemented by theAlliance to Save Energy (ASE). Over the past five years, the MUNEE Program has focused on energy efficiency policy reform needs through the development of the Armenian Energy Efficiency Council, technical assistance to the drafting of the Energy Saving and Renewable Energy Law (adopted in 2004), the aforementioned ESRE National Program.

The ESRE National Program development provided an unprecedented cross-sectoral assessment of energy saving and renewable energy potential in the Armenian economy, and recommended actions for cost-effectively utilizing this potential. All large and energy intensive enterprises underwent an in-depth energy examination, end-use consumption data was collected for all 35 economic sectors by all fuel types filling a five-year statistical gap in the Armenian energy balance. This allowed revealing trends, making projections, drawing comparisons with other comparable countries and, most importantly, calculating the nationwide, sector-specific and enterprise-level energy saving potential.

Some of the noteworthy sectors with the largest potential estimated in and highest priority assigned are as follows:

• 40% of national energy saving potential is in building sector. Building weatherization can save up to 30% thermal energy necessary for space heating equivalent to:
• 3.35 million GCal in residential buildings; and
• 0.67 million GCal in public/tertiary buildings.
• 15% energy reduction potential was identified in water supply and irrigation;
• Optimization of lighting was calculated to save 475 million kWh over the next 10 years;
• Industrial energy efficiency measures were estimated to reduce energy use:
• By 5% in mining industries ;
• By 23% in chemical industry; and
• By 35-40% in food industry.
• 210 MW new gas turbine installation and transition to fuel conservation mode would annually save Yerevan Thermal Power Plant (TPP) from 184 to 265 million m3 natural gas;
• Retrofitting of the fifth unit of Hrazdan TPP would annually save 223 million m3 natural gas; etc.

The National Program proposes 16 categories of energy efficiency measures (including technical, institutional, administrative, financial, etc.), setting a nationwide cut in energy use by 1 million t.o.e. annually.

The MUNEE legislative strengthening work in the field of energy efficiency continues focusing on a number of relevant legislative documents, energy audit procedures, energy efficiency standards and building energy codes as part of technical assistance to Armenian Government.

For questions contact:

Astghine V. Pasoyan
Senior Program Manager
Alliance to Save Energy
apasoyan@ase.org

The National Program also appraises the renewable energy potential in Armenia for hydro-power, biogas, solar, geothermal and wind power installations technically and economically feasible for application by 2020.