Posted on : 8/20/2018

The City of Kragujevac is a local self-government unit with more than 180,000 inhabitants; as such, according to the Law on Efficient Use of Energy, it is obliged to introduce the energy management system. Even though conditions for introduction of the energy management system were met in 2016 following the adoption of a set of decrees and rulebooks to regulate this matter more closely, the competent persons in Kragujevac had recognized the importance of energy efficiency much earlier. Employees in the City administration received different kinds of training for energy management, organized before 2016 by the Ministry of Mining and Energy, Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, foreign agencies for international cooperation, and others. The City also participated in several projects financed by domestic and foreign institutions. These activities resulted in several investment projects of energy reconstruction of public buildings which were financed both by own funds and funds from different projects, as well as in establishment of energy and water consumption monitoring systems in public buildings in competence of the City. Kragujevac has been conducting such monitoring since 2010. Also, since 2012, Kragujevac has been filing regular reports on implementation of measures from the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan to the Ministry of Mining and Energy. In the same year, Kragujevac also signed the charter of cities and municipalities entitled „Energy Aware and Efficient“.

Following the adoption of the said decrees and rulebooks, the City sent its representative, Ana Radojević, to the first official training course for energy managers conducted by the authorized training institution – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade. Following the training and successfully completed mentoring work, Ana passed the test for an energy manager and was one of the first individuals in Serbia to obtain the license for an energy manager in the area of municipal energy, which, according to law, gave her the right to be appointed as the energy manager. On 10 October 2016, the Mayor of Kragujevac passed the decision on appointing Ana Radojević energy manager. Thus, the City of Kragujevac became the first local self-government unit which appointed the energy manager in accordance with law. However, the authorities in Kragujevac rightly concluded that one energy manager is not sufficient for successful energy management in a big City; thus, they established the Department for Energy Management, comprising seven employees:

1. Ana Radojević, MSc in mechanical engineering and energy manager of the City of Kragujevac,
2. Gordana Stojanović, MSc in mechanical engineering and Head of the Department for Energy Efficiency,
3. Nada Stepović, MSc in management, advisor for operations in the area of energy management,
4. Mladen Stevanović, MSc in economics, advisor for operations in the area of energy management,
5. Mišel Petrović, MSc in management, advisor for operations in the area of energy management,
6. Ivica Pantović, MSc international in business management, advisor for operations in the area of energy management, 
7. Slađana Stević, MSc in transport, advisor for operations in the area of energy management.

Members of the professional and compact Department for Energy Management achieved significant results fast; these results include development of annual reports on achieving energy saving targets for 2016 and 2017, introduction of Energy Management Information System (EMIS) in all public buildings in competence of the City as well as in public lighting, training of EMIS end users and elaboration of energy efficiency programme for the City ofKragujevac for the period from 2018 to 2021. This programme was composed by the City of Kragujevac in cooperation with the Kragujevac-based Faculty of Engineering, and adopted by the City assembly on 27 April 2018. The Programme comprises a inventory and assessment of energy demand of buildings in the competence of the City, and proposed measures and activities to ensure more efficient use of energy, leading partners, deadlines, and assessment of expected results of each measure contributing to achievement of the planned goal, as well as funds necessary for implementation of these measures, sources and manner of their engagement, etc. In 2017, the City successfully applied for funds from the Budgetary Fund for Energy Efficiency and successfully implemented the energy efficiency project in elementary school “Stanislav Sremčević” at the total value of 22.5 million dinars. In 2018, the City signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) relating to cooperation between the City and UNDP in relation to further development of the energy management system in Kragujevac.

The Department for Energy Management in Kragujevac successfully implements both informative and educational campaigns related to energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources, intended for the general public.

The organization and functioning of the energy management system in Kragujevac, as well as the successful stories experienced so far, are an excellent example of good practices and a roadmap for other local self-government units on how to fulfill legal obligations and achieve results in the area of energy and water saving, i.e. reduction of costs for these purposes.

Presentation: Energy Efficiency in Kragujevac

City of Kragujevac, Employees of Department for Energy Efficiency