Covenant of Mayors - Demonstration Projects

The EU Programme ‘Covenant of Mayors – Demonstration Projects’ (CoM-DeP) was developed in response to the challenges facing small towns of less than 200,000 residents that have signed up to the Covenant of Mayors. Demonstration projects show how cities can effectively turn their SEAPs into practical action. Following a two-stage competition, the European Commission selected 19 projects involving 22 municipalities. Each leading organisation or town signed a grant agreement with the Commission ranging from €400,000 to €1.2 million, for a total budget of €14 million. The selected projects focus a range of areas, such as for example: – energy savings through building refurbishment (Rustavi in Armenia, Zhovkva, Voznesensk, Zhmerynka, Novovolynsk, Slavutych and Konotop in Ukraine); – upgrading district heating systems (Gola Prystan and Zhovkva in Ukraine); -introducing energy-efficient street lighting (Polack and Braslav in Belarus, Sambir and Mena in Ukraine, Ocnita and Cantemir in Moldova); – upgrading public transport (Kramatorsk, Ukraine); improving energy efficiency in wastewater systems (Chausy, Belarus); as well as providing technical, procedural and networking assistance through a Support Team. The programme is part of the Sustainable EU’s Municipal Flagship Development Initiative, which aims to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to implement energy efficiency plans, promote good governance and encourage financial accountability in the Eastern Partnership countries. Municipalities involved have received the financial, logistical and technical means to carry out sustainable energy efficiency projects that will mean reduced operational costs and energy bills for municipalities and thus citizens while being better for the environment through reduced CO₂ emissions. In the second round of funding, 14 new projects were selected. The projects started in early 2018 and will run for two to three years.