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VITEBSK, 1 August (BelTA) – Experts of the Spanish company Bionet and the Institute of Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) are expected to present their first run-time version of a sustainable energy action plan in Polotsk within the European SURE project, BelTA learnt from the Polotsk City Hall. The development and implementation of the sustainable energy action plan is an obligatory condition for Polotsk to join the Covenant of Mayors, an initiative of the European cities committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Polotsk plans to join the Covenant of Mayors in September this year as its first participant from Belarus. Attending a working meeting on 3 August will be specialists of Polotsk and Vitebsk Oblast, SURE experts from Belarus, Germany and Spain, as well as workers of the NASB Institute of Energy, who are to present the results of the energy audit of ten Polotsk municipal facilities. The participants of the working meeting will discuss the proposals of Belarusian and Spanish experts regarding the pilot energy efficiency project. The SURE budget envisages nearly ?40,000 for the implementation of the project. The EU project “SURE: Sustainable Urban Energy in the Region of the European Neighborhood Partnership Instrument – towards the Covenant of Mayors” is a part of the EU program “CIUDAD: Cooperation in Urban Development and Dialogue”. The budget of the 2.5-year project is nearly ?790,000. The new initiative will contribute to sustainable energy development of Polotsk and Sale (Morocco) with their further joining of the Covenant of Mayors. The Covenant of Mayors commits its member states to curb their CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020. The partners of the project are Freidrichshafen (the leading partner, Germany), Murcia (Spain), Sale (Morocco), the Polotsk City Hall (Belarus) and the Inter-Mediterranean Commission of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (France).

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