Thanks to the forest that occupies 40 per cent of its territory, Belarus is usually referred to as the “lungs of Europe”, symbolised by the green strip in the Belarusian flag.
And Polesie is going green too. The company has become the first Belarusian business to join the EBRD’s Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC) programme, supported by the Global Environmental Facility.
Finance available through FINTECC has helped Polesie install energy efficient technology that is new to the Belarusian manufacturing sector.
A combined cooling heat and power plant (CCHP plant) allows the factory to efficiently generate its own heat, electricity and cooling power needed in its production plant.
The new technologies are expected to generate electricity savings of around 3,000 MWh and gas savings of 24,100 MWh per year. It will also reduce CO2 emission by 7,500 tonnes per year, the equivalent of the average annual emissions of more than 2,200 households.
The EBRD’s FINTECC programme helps companies implement advanced climate technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase climate resilience by providing grants and technical assistance.
It provides businesses not only with finance but also the necessary knowhow to invest in climate technologies to save energy, water and materials.
At the same time, it supports policymakers in building the right environment for such investments to thrive long term.
In total, FINTECC’s work has helped to save annual CO2 emissions of some 175,000 tonnes, equivalent to taking 37,000 cars off the road for one year, while total water savings amount to 1.6 million cubic metres and materials savings to 10,400 tonnes.
