MINSK, 6 December (BelTA) – About 1,400 sources of energy that use locally available fuels have been commissioned in Belarus since 2006, BelTA learned from Deputy Director of the Energy Effectiveness Department of the State Standardization Committee of Belarus Leonid Poleshchuk.
Wood and peat are viewed as primary local fuels in Belarus. “Wise expansion of the usage of local fuels and the reduction of natural gas consumption are part of the government policy aimed at bolstering the national energy security. For instance, one power plant that uses such fuel to generate about 5MW of electricity can substitute 3 million m3 of natural gas per year. The amount is sufficient to keep about 1,500 standard two-bedroom apartments warm. About 1,400 sources of energy burning local fuels have been commissioned in Belarus since 2006 thanks to government programs on energy saving,” Leonid Poleshchuk said.
In 2018 the share of local fuel in the housing and utilities industry was close to 41%. The implementation of the energy saving program designed to run in 2016-2020 will allow substituting at least 196 million m3 of imported natural gas worth about $30.7 million per annum and will raise the share of local fuel used by boilers and furnaces of the housing and utilities industry to 52%.
According to Leonid Poleshchuk, in addition to increasing the safety of energy delivery the use of local fuel reduces dependence on imported energy resources and makes the generation of heating energy cheaper. The prime cost of heat generation in modern sources of energy that burn wood is at least 20% lower than that in energy sources that use natural gas.
