Case study JI

First Joint Implementation Project Worldwide Registered

Irish organisation benefits from the modernisation of its Ukrainian subsidiary by transferring emissions credits to its domestic market

_{(May 2007)}

Following validation by TÜV SÜD, the first Joint Implementation (JI) project worldwide has been successfully registered with the United Nations.

Registered JI projects offer companies the opportunity of implementing emissions reductions abroad – a particularly efficient and cost-effective approach. "These projects make good economic sense for their initiators, who receive either emissions credits or tradable certificates for the emissions reductions achieved", says Werner Betzenbichler, Head of Carbon Management Service at TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH.

Technology transfer into newly industrialised countries (NICs) offers savings that would scarcely be feasible at comparative levels of efficiency in highly industrialised countries. Ireland-based CRH plc, Dublin, an international leader in building materials, shares this opinion. CRH plc's planned investment in the modernisation of the cement production processes at its Ukrainian subsidiary Podilsky Cement, Kamyanets-Podilsky, paves the way to saving roughly 3 million tonnes of CO2 emissions between 2009 and 2012.

Modernising cement production
The cement work in Kamyanets-Podilsky is one of the largest of its kind in Ukraine. Nevertheless, particularly serious energy wasters and obsolete production methods were identified there. To reduce emissions, technical experts in the cement works proposed conversion of the wet production process currently in use, considered particularly energy intensive, to a modern, dry process. TÜV SÜD verified the feasibility of the planned measure and the resulting savings. They concluded that: energy consumption would be reduced by 53 per cent, thus resulting in an annual 750,000-tonne reduction in CO2 emissions.

Validation for registration
First, an international expert team of TÜV SÜD Industrie Service carries out a detailed review of the project design document (PDD). The PDD to be submitted by the investor corresponds to an application for approval and must establish that the planned measures will actually result in particular reductions. Subsequently, desktop and document review and an on-site inspection plus audit are carried out and documented in a detailed report. If validation shows the document to be ready for approval, it may be registered with the competent national authority and ultimately with the United Nations. This is the starting signal for the investor to commence project implementation.

Benefits for both investor and host
Ireland-based CRH plc obtains emissions credits or tradable certificates for modernising its Ukrainian subsidiary, while Podilsky Cement profits from the transfer of ultramodern technology and sustainable production measures. The involvement of TÜV SÜD provides all stakeholders with planning certainty and promotes smooth emissions trading worldwide.