Energy efficiency indicators (EEI) play an important role in analysing the interactions among economic and human activity, energy use and CO2 emissions. They are essential for the setting of energy policy in all countries. EEIs are designed to help government decision makers and analysts monitor trends and allow for a better understanding of the impact that policy measures have had in each sector.

The Energy Statistics component of the INOGATE Technical Secretariat (ITS) will organise a Regional Seminar on the calculation of EEIs in Minsk, Belarus on 22-24 September 2015.

Specifically, the objectives of this INOGATE regional workshop will be to discuss the best international practices in using EEIs for the monitoring and evaluation of energy efficiency policies; to increase awareness of the importance of data quality, to take stock of the status quo and priorities in each Partner Country (PC) and to share examples of EEI systems at the international level, as well as showcasing the progress achieved in Belarus and Azerbaijan. These presentations will be made by participants.

As an integral part of the workshop, participants will be trained in the use of a simple calculation tool (through a template developed by the International Energy Agency (IEA) by means of practical exercises. They will each develop and demonstrate their own user-friendly tool specially developed for modelling household energy data and the calculation of end-use energy consumption.

ITS and IEA experts will also introduce the key concepts and objectives underlying the development of EEIs including data requirements, calculation methodologies (e.g. data collection, modelling, compilation and calculation of EEIs according to the recommendations prepared by Eurostat/European Commission) and international best practices (e.g. Eurostat, IEA).

This workshop will assist representatives of the five INOGATE PCs (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine) in calculating EEIs for their country in three main areas or sectors: economy-wide indicators, residential and industry indicators. ITS experts are recommending the adoption of a gradual approach to the calculation of EEIs. At this stage EEIs in the transportation, agriculture and services sectors will not be covered in depth, although the workshop will also prepare and present ITS recommendations for the development of EEIs in the transport and services sectors.

During the workshop, representatives from INOGATE PCs will be asked to work together to prepare the available data and carry out exercises on the calculation of EEIs. ITS and IEA experts will provide the necessary guidance for participants during the practical sessions.

Azerbaijan is embarking on a five-year plan to upgrade and expand its district heating system. Moving towards a decentralised heating system, serving 8 to 12 apartment blocks, such an upgrade will reduce capital costs, avoid unnecessary building of heating mains, share operating costs and increase energy efficiency. INOGATE continues to support Azeristiliktechiza, the national operator of heating supply systems in Azerbaijan in developing a roadmap for 2015-2020 for district heating. The roadmap will include an analysis of the relevant documentation and will establish clear targets and goals, activities, tasks and costing, as well as recommendations and an action plan. This assistance is focusing on capacity development of Azeristiliktechiza staff in use of the heat mapping tool.

The mapping of heat demand and heat sources is a powerful tool for forecasting opportunities, assessing heat demand (heating needs) and supply (possible sources of heat), and establishing how these two can be efficiently connected to reduce the cost of heat supply as well as the carbon dioxide intensity of heat generation. Heat mapping can also be used, in combination with other spatial datasets, as a tool to focus on areas of need or priority, where there are opportunities for heat networks, for assessing heat density and to measure the proximity of heat sources. The heat map will be updated regularly and will evolve over time.

The assistance provided by INOGATE sets the foundation for relevant stakeholders in the heating sector to realise the full potential of the district heating infrastructure, to provide a plan to balance heat supply and demand in an optimal way and to ensure that investments in developing future district heating systems are optimised and justified. 

Relevant documents to this assistance will be available here.

In-country work to improve energy statistics in Belarus in the extension period (February 2015 – January 2016) will kick off with a workshop in Minsk which will give an overview of energy statistics in Belarus and the ITS programme of activities for Belarus. Belstat will present the results of its survey on energy consumption in households in 2015 and an overview of its current and planned activities. The residential survey will be reviewed and discussed. At the same time there will be an evaluation of the methodology, questionnaires and documents required to apply such a survey to the service sector. The workshop will also guide participants in developing a tool for monitoring and evaluating Energy Efficiency (EE) measures and policies for both the residential and the industry sectors.

The main objective of this TA is to improve the energy statistics systems of Belarus and to increase the capacity of Belstat to collect and compile energy statistics that are harmonised with EU and international standards. The full TA will take the form of a preliminary assessment of key documents, presentations and discussion materials and the development of templates that will help participants to further improve their statistics methodologies.

This TA will help Belarus improve its  energy statistics system by supporting a survey on final energy consumption in the residential sector, enabling the collection of more accurate data on energy consumption and increasing the capacity and autonomy of Belstat to collect and compile more detailed and reliable energy statistics. It is anticipated that the methodology and tools for annual monitoring for the evaluation of Energy Efficiency (EE) measures and policies will be in place and in use and that EE indicators in the residential, industry and service sectors will be harmonised with EU directives. An institutional framework will thus be established within Belstat.

More info about the event can be found at the event’s dedicated page.

On 12 August 2015, the founder of the Association "Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine", former Team Leader of the “Covenant of Mayors” project, and an outstanding person Anatoliy Kopets, passed away. He was a hard-working, positive person. He contributed a great deal to the development of energy efficiency in Ukraine and other countries.  The team of INOGATE Technical Secretariat expresses its deepest condolences to the family, friends, colleagues and all those who had a opportunity to know Anatoly Kopets.

The RESMAP (Renewable Energy Sources Map), an online geospatial platform that has been developed to map wind and solar energy resources and project information was transferred to the Georgian Energy Development Fund (GEDF) on 14 July 2015.

This software tool, designed to facilitate dialogue between policy makers, potential investors and the supply chain, can help each market participant to understand the value of developing the renewable energy resources of the country from their own perspective.  The tool identifies the quantity of resources that exist, where they are located and what return on investment can be expected at a given combination of tariff, discount rate and capital cost.

On 15 July GEDF and ITS organised a special meeting at the Georgian Ministry of Energy, to inform representatives from Moldova and Azerbaijan on the results of their work in Georgia. This first step will prepare for possible future RESMAP activity in their countries. Results were also shared with Armenian representatives.

The meeting  participants were given a demonstration of the prototype tool and its potential expansion to Moldova and Azerbaijan was discussed. Support from these countries includes a small annual ArcGIS license fee to enable update and maintain the tool once it is operational, as well as some in-kind participation in data collection. The meeting also served as the moment to decide key elements of Terms of Reference for application of the tool in Moldova and Azerbaijan.