With the help of the “Sukhodrov” (dry firewood) project, Shevchenkove rural municipality started to produce its own fuel resource used to heat social institutions. The project was implemented due to the joint efforts of the municipality, the Parity Foundation, due to “Time to act, Ukraine!” competition of the MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation, MHP, and the U-LEAD Programme.
As Shevchenkove village head Serhii Smalko said, the municipality had previously purchased a shredder and other necessary equipment for processing material (branches and wood) at the expense of infrastructure subvention. There was also an attempt to shred raw branches, which are very abundant on the territory, but a problem arose — they do not dry out, but rot, which is why they cannot be used for heating:
“The question arose: how to dry them? So already in October 2022, we started implementing the ‘Sukhodrov’ project. The availability of a shredder and drying equipment allows us to produce wood chips and firewood on our own, which significantly saves the local budget. The further project development will be the creation of a pallet line. We currently provide social institutions with wood chips, we have solid fuel boilers — we gave up gas, because we are creating a fuel resource from waste,” said the municipality head.
Serhii Honchar, Chairman of the Board of the Parity Foundation, told the story of the project and the search for funding for its implementation. According to him, with the beginning of system interruptions in energy supply, the Foundation concentrated its activities on ensuring the energy independence of municipalities of Cherkasy oblast:
“While searching for optimal solutions for the heating of buildings, we came across the development of Vladyslav Kykot, a student of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and a native of Cherkasy. It was the equipment that enables drying of branches and production of high-quality resource for heating using solar energy. The ‘Sukhodrov’ project brought to life an idea based on thorough research and calculations.”
At the beginning of the project implementation, a problem arose: the search for financing and the search for a municipality from Cherkasy oblast that would be interested in actions aimed at energy efficiency and energy independence. At this stage, we received support from the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe Programme in Cherkasy oblast, as noted by Serhii Honchar:
“We are grateful to U-LEAD for their support at the stage of preparing the project bid, searching for grant opportunities for implementation, and establishing friendly relations with Shevchenkove municipality. The project was implemented thanks to the joint efforts of the municipality, the Parity Foundation, the MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation, and U-LEAD.”
According to him, such projects as “Sukhodrov” with their contribution to energy independence will help the country at the stage of recovery after the war, because the funds spent by municipalities on energy resources are significant. Their savings will help to invest more precisely in the implementation of projects for the territories restoration and development.
Currently, as Honchar emphasised, the charitable organisation is looking for funding to implement a project to improve equipment for use in the summer: drying of vegetables, fruits, mushrooms.
We remind you that a series of educational and advisory events on energy security launched in municipalities.