OREANDA-NEWS. December 12, 2008. The EBRD is contributing to the improvement of the district heating system in the city of Odessa through a EUR21.9 million municipal loan which will be provided to the District Heating Company of Odessa (TMO), reported the press-centre of EBRD.

The project will allow TMO to implement a series of measures aimed at reduction of natural gas consumption by the district heating system, improve the quality of service, and organise partial metering of consumption in Odessa.

The transaction is going address a number of long-standing issues in Odessa’s district heating, such as the reduction of operating costs and gas consumption. Other project objectives include service quality improvements and a gradual switch from production-controlled to consumer-controlled consumption metering operations and a consumption-based tariff system.

Technical Cooperation funds for the project worth 0.8 million Euro, to finance, among other things, the Feasibility Study and Implementation Support have been provided by the governments of Sweden, France and the United Kingdom.

Thomas Maier, EBRD’s Infrastructure Business Director said: “Given the scale of losses and operating inefficiencies, investment in district heating is the first priority for any Ukrainian city. By signing this project, the Odessa authorities are demonstrating their commitment to tackling this issue”. Once the project has been implemented, many customers will be able to regulate how much heat they purchase and, through metering, they will be able to link the cost of heat with actual consumption, he added.

Since it launched its Sustainable Energy Initiative in May 2006, the EBRD has invested a total of over EUR 2.4 billion on sustainable energy projects, including energy efficiency and the promotion of renewable energy sources. So far this year investments in sustainable energy projects have amounted over EUR 800 million.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest financial investor in Ukraine. As of November 2008, it had committed over ?3.97 billion through 163 projects.