Reference on “EU4Yerevan: Solar Community” program

Taking into account the policy of reforms being implemented in the sphere of renewable energy and energy saving in Armenia, in 2018, Yerevan Municipality started implementation of an interesting project. With the support of the European Union and within the frames of the “Covenant of Mayors” initiative it was decided to place photovoltaic stations on the roofs of 90 blocks of flats. With its content and social significance, the project is the first and the only similar project in Yerevan and in other cities that are members of the “Covenant of Mayors”. The program is also in concordance with the goals of the Yerevan Sustainable Energy Action Plan as due to the Program implementation the CO2 emissions will decrease by approximately 453 tons. 
General budget of the program is 1.250.000 euro, 250.000 euro of which has been co-financed by Yerevan Municipality.
The goal of the program was:
•    To reduce energy costs of residents in common use areas via energy saving and energy efficiency,
•    To boost “Green economy” growth
•    To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the level of convenience thereby contributing to the improvement of the quality of life.
Selection of the priority buildings was a hard phase. The buildings were chosen via condominiums and taking into consideration the principle of proportional territorial development, all administrative districts were involved except Nork Marash.  Besides technical criteria, the social component was taken into account in the selection process.
The “EU4Yerevan: Solar Community” was put into the practical phase in 2020.
Instead of 90 blocks of flats the photovoltaic stations were installed on the roofs of 97 buildings. The provide elevators, entrances, staircases as well as courtyards with lighting. Owing to the program implementation we make it possible for residents to save finances by more than 50% as well as to reduce energy consumption by 77% in the areas of common use.
Within the scope of the program new LED lams were installed in the buildings and courtyards.
Considering the important social component of the program, 300 needy families were allotted five LED lamps each.
For each of the buildings target bank accounts were opened on which the money collected from residents and the income generated from selling electricity to the Electric Network of Armenia CJSC will be accumulated. The accumulated amounts will be directed to the maintenance of the systems allotted for free use and the implementation of energy-saving programs in the buildings as decided by the residents.
Numerous technical problems, visiting residents at their home, the program awareness campaigns, numerous interviews and publications, always active media platforms, and today the long-awaited project has been successfully completed.
The main problem and goal of the project was to reduce CO2 emissions via boosting “green economy growth” and to improve the quality of life of approximately 27 000 residents.