EPC projects will save tens of millions in energy, helping to improve the air in the Ústí nad Labem region
Significant investment projects are expected for several dozen buildings in the Ústí region this year. Their energy management will undergo complete modernization through EPC (Energy Performance Contracting) projects, which will lead to lower energy costs. The company MVV Energie CZ a.s., which succeeded in the tender of the Ústí nad Labem region, is ensuring the modernization of the buildings and, in addition, guarantees that energy savings will be made to the extent submitted in the offer. All work and technology will be covered by future savings. This minimizes direct investments by the region, and the money saved can be used for other investment projects.
EPC is a comprehensive service including the design of energy saving measures, their preparation and implementation, as well as subsequent energy management. „We guarantee lower energy consumption. This means not only lower operating costs and modernization of the technological equipment of buildings, but also cleaner air. The less energy is consumed, the less will have to be produced - that is, less burnt in coal resources. This is not to mention a significant decrease in CO2 production," explains Martin Hvozda, manager of the energy services division of MVV Energie CZ, one of the pioneers of EPC in the Czech Republic.
Investments in 10 school buildings and social services facilities owned by the Ústí nad Labem region were calculated at CZK 51.1 million. This will cover in particular the installation of cogeneration units, modifications to the technology of heat exchanger stations, modernization of measurement and control systems, laundry technology or the use of more than 4,000 modern adjustable LEDs. As mentioned, the great advantage of the service is that the financing comes from future contractually guaranteed savings. In this case, these will amount to CZK 73.3 million over 10 years.
Thus, the region needs almost no input capital, while every year in the following decades it will save more than 5 TJ of heat, 800 MWh of electricity, but also, for example, 7,000 m3 of water. Thanks to this, CO2 savings climb to more than 1,100 tons.
„This year, the Ústí nad Labem region completed its Territorial Energy Concept for the Region, in which it signs up to the trend of reducing CO2 emissions. One way to fulfill this concept is to use the EPC method to reduce energy consumption. In addition, this method allows us to make investments even with reduced revenues and the necessary savings to the regional budget caused by the economic downturn after the coronavirus crisis," explained Deputy for Regional Development Zdeněk Matouš.
The successful operation of the contract confirms that the EPC method has a very wide use not only for the municipal sphere, but also for university buildings, dormitories, campuses, etc. Other projects to increase the energy efficiency of buildings and companies are planned in the Ústí nad Labem region in the coming years.
MVV Energie CZ is also implementing EPC projects for the university residences of the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University. An investment of CZK 11 million is expected here and guaranteed savings will amount to CZK 13.4 million over the next 9 years.
In addition, MVV Energie CZ is an important energy supplier in the Ústí nad Labem region through its subsidiaries. It responsibly supplies energy, combining production with sources from waste or geothermal energy, to, for example, the Děčín region, Louny or Litoměřice. The area, which was still one of the most polluted in the Czech Republic in the 1990s, is now becoming a region with a modern approach to the environment and can be an example to other regions.
According to Eurostat data, the Czech Republic remains among the most energy-intensive EU countries, although energy consumption in our country is still declining. Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings in individual regions is thus one of the means for the overall modernization of the Czech economy and the fulfillment of climate commitments arising from the European Green Deal.
The MVV Energie CZ energy group comprises fifteen companies operating in fifteen cities in the Czech Republic. The parent company is MVV Energie CZ a.s., which was established in October 1993. Since 1999 the company has been a subsidiary of MVV Energie AG, a German energy group, based in Mannheim. The three main pillars of the MVV strategy are the production and distribution of thermal energy, the combined high-efficiency power production and the waste-to-energy generation.
