The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) and DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH, which is a subsidiary of Germany’s national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, have signed an agreement on provision of consulting services involving creation of an energy management strategy for Ukrzaliznytsia.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
“Minister of Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov met with Germany’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Anka Feldhusen today. The issue of reforming JSC Ukrzaliznytsia, among other things, was raised at the meeting. The two parties noted the broadening of cooperation between the two countries’ railway companies.
"An agreement on provision of consulting services involving creation of an energy management strategy for Ukrzaliznytsia was signed between Ukrzaliznytsia and DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH today," said Kubrakov. "The energy management strategy will be developed with grants from the EBRD. We plan to deepen cooperation with DB in the future because the German railway has already completed the path of European integration and transformation, which Ukraine has only just begun."
According to Ukrzaliznytsia, the company must draft an investment plan for energy efficiency in accordance with its obligations within the framework of its cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on the project for electrification of the Dolynska - Mykolaiv - Kolosivka railway line.
Under the terms of the agreement, a consultant from DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH must prepare an energy-efficiency investment plan within 1.5 years, with the priority measures outlined. In addition, recommendations and a roadmap for obtaining an ISO 50001 certification will be drafted and a new energy management system for Ukrzaliznytsia will be presented.
The EBRD has provided a grant of about EUR 370,000 for implementation of the agreement.
DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH was selected as the consultant to Ukrzaliznytsia based on the results of a tender organized based on the EBRD’s rules and procedures. The technical tasks for the provision of the consulting services were drafted by the EBRD together with Ukrzaliznytsia’s specialists.
As reported earlier, Ukrzaliznytsia’s new head Oleksandr Kamyshin has been set the task of optimizing the purchase of electricity for the railway company directly from the Energoatom nuclear power generating company.
Ukrzaliznytsia and DB Engineering & Consulting are also discussing possible cooperation on the mechanisms for implementation of PSO contracts, infrastructure access rates, transport analytics, IT solutions, development of technical specifications for rolling stock, etc.
