The Opening Event for Energy Efficiency Schools within the scope of Energy Efficiency Works which is the third component of The Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Measures for Host Provinces in Turkiye With SuPT Project implemented by the Ministry of National Education through KfW with the financial support of Europen Union was held in Gaziantep Ali Küncülü Middle School on December 6, 2022.
The event was attended by Governor of Gaziantep Davut GÜL, Head of the European Union Delegation to Turkey, Ambassador Nikolaus MEYER-LANDRUT, Director General of Construction and Real Estate Umut GÜR, German Development Bank (Kfw) Ankara Office Director Kirk MILDNER, Provincial Director of National Education Yasin TEPE, provincial protocol, Ministry of National Education Project Implementation Unit representatives and Ali Küncülü Secondary School teachers and students.
”We Supported 94 New Constructions and Renovation of 1,200 Workshops in 55 Schools
Kirk MILDNERKfW Ankara Office Director
KfW Ankara Office Director Kirk MILDNER started his speech on the podium by greeting Ali Küncülü Secondary School students in Turkish. MILDNER started his speech by; “The Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Measures for Host Provinces in Turkiye With SuPT Project is implemented by the Ministry of National Education through KfW and is carried out with the financial support and cooperation of the European Union. The European Union and the Republic of Turkey are working together to resolve the Syrians under temporary protection crisis.” Stating that as KFW, they provide support to the Ministry of National Education on behalf of the European Union within the scope of different projects, MILDNER stated that they especially support the construction and opening of 94 new schools and the renovation of 1,200 workshops in 55 schools. MILDNER ended his words by “Our Clean Energy Project is also compatible with Turkiye’s sustainable growth and climate change targets. It directly contributes to these goals. I am also very pleased that this project brings together climate protection and education. Education is very important in the fight against climate change.”
”With more than 55 thousand schools and more than 140 thousand buildings, we continue education activities for all our individuals, especially our children.
Umut GÜRGeneral Manager of Construction and Real Estate at the Ministry of National Education
Umut GÜR, General Manager of Construction and Real Estate at the Ministry of National Education, started his speech by stating that as the Ministry, they continue their education activities for all of our individuals, especially our children, with over 55 thousand schools and over 140 thousand buildings. GÜR continued as: “I would like to share this: in recent years, energy efficiency and sustainability have taken their place in all these activities more intensely and effectively. In addition to realizing the energy performance class of our newly built buildings at B level, the energy efficiency performance of all of our 1,500 buildings that we have retrofitted in the last 3 years has been improved by an average of 25% and has been increased to the energy performance class B level according to energy consumption values. These buildings, which other repair needs were also met, were also made suitable for disabled access. In 2023, we aimed this improve in 1,000 more schools.”
GÜR said; “With our Thousand Eco-Friendly Schools Project, which we started this year, we aimed to transform our schools at the basic education level. We aimed to make at least one of our schools in each district environmentally friendly and set an example. Within the scope of the project, we realized investments and activities such as presence sensor lighting, sensor faucet mixer, LED fixture, natural gas boiler, thermostatic valve conversion, solar power plants (SPP), energy instantaneous monitoring panel installation, compensation panel improvement, library construction from recycled materials.”
Expressing that the Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Measures for Host Provinces in Turkiye With SuPT Project has an exceptional place in their ever-increasing agenda on energy efficiency and sustainability, Umut GÜR stated that with this Project, they aim to provide the energy needed in schools in a sustainable way. In the project, where renewable energy and energy efficiency studies are handled holistically; He emphasized that there are three components: rooftop solar power plants, land solar power plants, and energy efficiency transformation works in schools.
At the end of his speech, GÜR said, “In our project, which we developed with the financial support of the European Union and the German Development Bank, we took a big step towards evaluating our school roofs and reached an installed capacity of 6 Megawatts on 77 roofs in 50 schools. With the electrical energy we obtain in this way, we meet the electrical energy needs of our 243 equivalent schools and 170,100 students.”
GÜR ended his speech by thanking the German Development Bank, the European Union Delegation to Turkey, Gaziantep Governorship, all the institutions that contributed, and the General Directorate of Construction and Real Estate team for their support and cooperation throughout the process.
”We Provided Over 10 Billion Euros of Financial Support
Nikolaus MEYER- LANDRUTHead of the European Union Delegation to Turkiye Ambassador
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Speaking at the ceremony, Head of the European Union Delegation to Turkiye Ambassador Nikolaus MEYER-LANDRUT; “As the European Union, we have given Turkiye more than 10 billion Euros of financial support since 2014 to support host provinces and Syrians under temporary protection. We spent 2 billion Euros of this support on education and we are planning to provide another 210 million Euros in this framework.” Stating that they also carry out projects to increase schooling rates in addition to the support they provide to the education infrastructure, LANDRUT said, “Within this framework, we support Turkiye in its efforts to increase the access of Syrians under temporary protection and host provinces to quality and inclusive education services with the Piktes project.”
Addressing climate change in his speech, the Ambassador ended his speech by; “Climate change is an extremely important problem today. We need to work hard to combat the consequences of global warming. We also support this project in order to reduce the consequences of climate change. We are working with Turkey, which is also a party to the Paris Agreement. I am pleased to see that Gaziantep is a leading city in the fight against global warming and I thank Gaziantep.”
”No matter how much investment is made for education, the need does not decrease
Davut GÜLGaziantep Governor
Gaziantep Governor Davut GÜL started his speech by thanking Ambassador Nikolaus MEYERLANDRUT and the managers of the German Development Bank. Emphasizing that Gaziantep is a young city and therefore its educational needs are high, Governor GÜL said, “It seems that the need for education does not decrease no matter how much investment is made. Although the number of classrooms built in the last 4 years with the budget of our Ministry of National Education is approximately the same as the total number of classrooms built in the last 80 years, our need for classrooms does not end. In this sense, the investments made by the European Union in the education of our city through the German Development Bank are very valuable for us. Thank you very much for your investment.”
After the speeches, Ali Küncülü Secondary School, which energy efficiency was increased, was visited and the works were examined on site. The event ended with a souvenir photo taken.
