At a formal ceremony at Ljubljana City Hall, the City of Ljubljana signed a public-private partnership (PPP) contract with the GGE d.o.o. Petrol d.d, Ljubljana consortium for the energy retrofitting of public buildings in the municipality. This occasion marks the largest PPP ever signed in Slovenia in the field of energy services. Through energy contracting, 49 buildings will be totally or partially rerofitted. The total investment is worth EUR 14.9 million.
In keeping with its policies for energy efficiency, the City of Ljubljana has begun implementing its largest energy retrofitting project to date, thanks to the public-private partnership model. The private consortium, GGE and Petrol, will invest in the renovation of the 49 buildings with the aim of making them more energy efficient. 26 buildings will undergo a comprehensive retrofitting and 23 a partial retrofitting, including individual measures for improving efficiency. Among them are kindergartens, primary schools, health centers, cultural and sports facilities and administrative buildings.
Following the signing of the contract, Mayor Zoran Janković announced: “In the field of sustainable development, Ljubljana is already a role model to many world cities, and I am proud that we will now be able to share a best practice case in the field of energy efficiency.” He added that the savings accrued by the City of Ljubljana under the contract will be allocated to the retrofitted buildings and their users. “This will serve as an additional motivation for our kindergartens, schools, health centers, sport facilities and their employees, to educate the young about the importance of smart and efficient energy use.”
Luka Komazec, CEO of GGE, said: “Given that this is the largest energy contracting project in Slovenian municipalities so far, we are very proud that the City of Ljubljana chose to work with us. The project, in addition to improving energy efficiency and savings, will also have a positive impact on the lives of citizens and will certainly strongly support the efforts of the City of Ljubljana to remain seen as a Green Capital. Finally, it will have a significant effect on the local economy as its implementation will involve around 100 contractors. For GGE, this ambitious project in our hometown will serve as a great reference for our work throughout the SEE region. Three Es define this undertaking: ecology, economy and education.”
Among the measures that will result in higher energy efficiency, lower energy consumption and a positive environmental impact, GGE and Petrol will implement:
• the renovation of HVAC systems,
• the replacement of interior lighting with more energy-efficient equipment,
• the replacement of existing heating systems with systems that will exploit renewable energy sources,
• the replacement of windows and doors,
• the renovation of facades,
• the insulation of roofs.
All these measures will result in 8,245,534 kWh of energy savings annually, in addition to the 2,956 tons of CO2 emissions they will cut each year.
The City will benefit immediately from the savings and use them to repay the private partners over the 15-year contract period. Once the contract expires, the City of Ljubljana will enjoy the full benefits from the energy savings achieved. GGE and Petrol will also provide management and maintenance of the equipment and systems installed as part of the energy retrofitting for the duration of the contract. With the consortium providing 50.1% of the funding, the EU Cohesion Fund and the City of Ljubljana will provide the rest of the investment.
The majority of renovations will be carried out during the summer school holidays, when buildings involved in the renovation are closed or less frequented. Detailed technical documentation is currently being prepared and the retrofitting is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017.
