Application of the Energy Service Contract to Improve Energy Efficiency in Use of Resources in the Housing and Utility Complex

The need for development of new efficient technologies in the modern world arises from growth in resource consumption. One of the main consumers of fuel and energy resources in Russia is a housing and utility complex. More than half of the buildings in the country were built more than 40 years ago. Despite the fact that the buildings, for the most part, have not yet their service life expired, the systems that provide electricity, heat and water to housing and utility services are in an unsatisfactory condition, they are morally outdated and do not meet modern needs. In recent decades, many developments that bring significant savings in resources appeared, both by reducing losses during their transportation, and by introducing technologies that optimize using of the resources. Implementation of such projects, although it brings tangible savings in resources, requires significant financial investments. Households and large municipalities often do not have an opportunity to find such significant money at a time. A solution to this problem can be involvement of an energy service company, which at its own expense implements a project to improve the energy efficiency of using resources, and then, within several years, it will receive some income for cost of saved resources. The article examines one of such projects, presents possible ways of implementing energy service activities, and presents the results of financial and economic calculations of consequences of a potential investor’s participation in such a project. As a result of implementation of the energy service project, electricity consumption will decrease by 15 %, the saved funds will allow the investor to have the return on investment from participation in the project in the amount of more than 25 % per annum, and the customer will significantly improve reliability and quality of providing the population with electricity. Results of the research conducted by the author demonstrate a great potential of practice of implementing energy service contracts for solving priority tasks of increasing the energy efficiency of the housing and utility complex