Vilnius Heat Demand Management GEF Project

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The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Heat Demand Management Project will support a broader, and more sustainable Energy Conservation Program (ECP) for the City of Vilnius, by promoting demand-side energy efficiency in residential buildings connected to the district heating system, and develop an energy efficiency market. The objective of the Project is to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from the Vilnius District Heating System by reducing barriers, and implementing, financially sustainable and replicable energy efficiency investments in the residential sector of the Vilnius City. This would be achieved by: co-financing demand management programs which would demonstrate the benefits of automatic, and consumer-controlled use of heat in homes, and consumption-based billing at the apartment level; a limited grant (or capital subsidy) financing from the GEF, that would cover the cost of down-payments (connection fees) for Apartment Level Demand Side Management equipment - particularly, for low-income customers. A commercially sustainable (revolving) financial facility will be created - ECP Commercial Fund - to support the implementation of investments aimed at reducing heat losses from the City's housing stock. The facility would provide both financing, and technical assistance for such investments, mobilizing additional financing from commercial sources as appropriate. Moreover, monitoring, evaluation, and information dissemination activities will be implemented, aimed at facilitating the replication of the Project's experience.