Norway is supporting rebuilding activities and a green recovery in Ukraine through Nefco by providing a total of NOK 180 million, approximately EUR 16 million. This funding will primarily be used to implement energy-efficiency projects, including renovating schools and hospitals, modernising wastewater system facilities, and installing solar energy solutions.
Part of the funding has already been used to provide technical assistance for building urgent housing for internally displaced persons and preparing near-zero-energy school building projects.
“Norwegian support for rebuilding activities, through partners such as Nefco, aims to help Ukraine protect its people, maintain essential and critical infrastructure services and become more energy resilient and independent,” says Åsmund Aukrust, Minister of International Development.
The first energy-efficiency projects financed under this Norwegian contribution include the renovation of day-care centres, a lyceum, and healthcare buildings in Northern, Western, and Central Ukraine. All the renovations aim to reduce energy consumption while improving healthcare and educational services for the communities’ citizens, including internally displaced persons.
“Nefco is committed to ensuring optimal use of Norwegian funds to rebuild Ukraine’s municipal infrastructure, helping to increase the country’s resilience. In collaboration with Norway, we are working to enhance the capacity of the supported communities in providing better and more energy-efficient municipal services,” says Ulf Bojö, Vice President, Green Transition Eastern Europe at Nefco.
Work is about to begin on these initial energy-efficiency projects in Koziatyn, Krasyliv, and Ovruch. The projects are expected to result in both heating and electricity savings, leading to significant budgetary savings for the communities. Heat savings of 52%-70% and electricity savings of 45%-60% are expected, compared with before the start of the project. In addition, the renovations will extend the buildings’ lifetimes and increase the overall resilience of public infrastructure in the supported communities.
Norway’s contribution to rebuilding activities in Ukraine through Nefco is part of the broader Nansen Support Programme for Ukraine, a Norwegian civilian and military support program with a budget of NOK 205 billion for 2023–2030. Nefco is a long-standing partner to Norway in supporting energy-efficiency investments in Ukraine, contributing to the rebuilding of Ukraine’s infrastructure at the municipal level to support the country in becoming greener and more resilient. The Nansen programme is administered by Norad, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.
In Ovruch, a city in the Zhytomyr region, northwest of Kyiv and bordering Belarus, comprehensive renovation of Ovruch Lyceum will be undertaken, and two buildings that are part of the Ovruch City Hospital, which were partially damaged during the war, will undergo refurbishment. In addition, two day-care centres in the community of Koziatyn in Central Ukraine, as well as the publicly owned primary healthcare centre in Krasyliv in Western Ukraine, will undergo refurbishments and energy-efficiency renovations.
The projects will improve the quality and conditions of healthcare and educational services and support internally displaced persons relocated to these communities. Some 500 students in Ovruch and 300 children in Koziatyn will benefit from the renovations through comfortable learning facilities with optimal indoor temperatures. Additionally, some 1,200 daily patients in Ovruch and in Krasyliv, as well as medical staff at both locations, will benefit from more comfortable treatment facilities.
