Accelerate SUNShINE: Support scheme for renovation of multifamily residential buildings, municipality public buildings are bundled for Energy Performance contracting based procurement

Location: Bauska Municipality, Tukums Municipality, Adazi Municipality and Jurmala city, Latvia

Population: 117,042 [four Latvian´s municipalities]

Climate: Humid continental

Duration: April 2017-March 2020 (ongoing)

Sector: Building

Funding sources: Public

City Networks: Covenant of Mayors, ICLEI, UK100

Savings: Energy savings equal to 1,300 MWh per year.

Solutions: Implementation of Energy Performance Contracting to enable deep renovation projects and to trigger the €27m investment, where the guaranteed energy savings can pay (in full or partly) for the necessary capital investments.

Multiple benefits: The energy-efficient modernization of public buildings and multifamily buildings.

After the signatory to the Covenant of Mayors, four municipalities in Latvia have begun to work together in a shared project management unit (Acellerate SUNShINE). The project was founded in the year 2017 and it is a continuation of project “SUNShINE” to re-establish comprehensive renovation projects of municipal and apartment buildings and to ensure energy efficiency guarantee implementation in the residential sector infrastructure and public building development [source].

Objective – To demonstrate the financial viability of deep renovation via suitable project bundling, municipal partnerships and financial engineering.

Solutions – In each municipality, public buildings are bundled for Energy Performance Contracting based procurement. At the same time, each municipality has established a support scheme for the deep renovation of multifamily residential buildings always based on Energy Performance Contracting and the lessons learned through the SUNShINE project. The main areas of work involve project development and process standardization.

Funding – EU funds amount to EUR 1,577,140.

Innovation – The residential sector in small and medium municipalities is often neglected in energy efficiency municipal projects. Thus, SUNShINE is a frontrunner in Latvia for working on project development and process standardization on a small scale.

Success factors – The project successful targeted a vulnerable sector for energy efficiency. In fact, small and medium municipalities are usually inadequately organized to manage and finance this process. At the same time, individual owners in the residential sector are inadequately organized to manage their collective property. Thus, the targeted population and sector of SUNShINE is likely to lead toward positive results. Moreover, the project coordinates with the Latvian Baltic Energy Efficiency Facility, a newly created facility which repurchases the long-term investments necessary for multifamily building renovation.

Significant outcomes:

• Energy savings equal to 1,300 MWh per year.

Synergies with local policies:

• Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 establishes energy efficiency measures (for the private and public sectors) to reduce heat and electricity consumption and achieve more efficient use of energy resources both at the city and national levels. Moreover, one of the key elements of the Strategy includes the Renovation of apartment houses and the reduction of thermal energy consumption.

Political alignment:

• The national energy and climate plan, 2021-2030 sets forth the basic principles, goals, and directions of national energy and climate policies for the coming decade. The measures proposed include improving buildings’ energy efficiency, promoting the use of energy-saving and renewable energy technologies in the supply of heating and air conditioning, as well as in industrial production;
• Energy Sector Development Guidelines 2016-2020 sets two targets: 1) enhancing the safety of energy supply and 2) sustainable generation and consumption of energy, by improving energy efficiency. Additionally, Buildings are also one of the top priorities to reach energy efficiency goals. The specific building-related energy-saving goal has been set as a reduction in the average energy for heating (climate corrected) from 202 kWh/1m2/year (2009) to 150 kWh/1m2/year (2020) [source].

Marketability:

Coordination with the Latvian Baltic Energy Efficiency Facility, which attracts private and institutional investors.