A heat pump was installed at the Dolphin Child Development Center which located in Zviahel, Zhytomyr region. This is a unit that uses electricity generated from the air. The pump will heat the kindergarten swimming pool for all preschoolers in the community year-round, which previously worked only during the heating season.
The heat pump has a capacity of 50 kW, which is also enough to heat the floor and hot water of the 25-m³ swimming pool. The community received the funds as part of the Renewable Energy for Sustainable Ukraine project implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German government. The project was accompanied by the NGO Ecoclub, and its cost was UAH 2,990,000. Part of the funds – UAH 300,000 – was co-financed by the community.
“It’s a great pleasure, the kids are very excited because now the pool is open all year round. We have positive feedback from parents, so we plan to provide additional services in the future. Besides comfort, the pump will save money on utility bills,” says Alla Peleshok, director of the Dolphin Child Development Center.
The Dolphin Child Development Center is attended by 194 children, and all preschoolers in the community can now use the swimming pool. According to preliminary calculations, the heat pump will save 455 thousand hryvnias annually on energy bills. The kindergarten plans to spend these funds on other important needs that will improve the comfort of preschoolers.
“The children are happy, they run to the kindergarten knowing that they will swim in the pool. I am sincerely glad that my child has the opportunity to attend this kindergarten,” Khrystyna, mother.
In total, the German government is financing 19 solar power plants under the initiative, and the heat pump is the first pilot project. Zviahel community managed to raise funds for its installation by developing a strategy for the development of renewable energy sources. As part of this strategy, a 25 kW grid-tied solar power plant was installed last year in the kindergarten. This became a significant advantage for the community when applying for project funding.
The solar power plant partially heated the pool in the summer, and now it will power the heat pump. This combination of technologies is expected to save the community almost half a million hryvnias a year on energy bills and significantly reduce its environmental footprint.
“We did not even hope that during a full-scale invasion we would be able to restore the pool by installing a heat pump. During the war, every hryvnia is important, so we have to use the available resources wisely and economically. In the future, we plan to install heat pumps for critical infrastructure facilities,” says Iryna Gudz, deputy mayor of the Zviahel community.
According to director Alla Peleshok, they also plan to raise funds for other energy-efficient projects to make the preschool as comfortable as possible for children:
“We are now looking for funds for batteries that will accumulate the heat and electricity produced when it is really needed. Therefore, we are looking for opportunities to make this a reality as soon as possible, and we urge you to cooperate with us!” emphasizes Alla Peleshok.
The project “Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Ukraine” is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German government.
