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Kyrgyz Sustainable Energy Financing Facility, KyrSEFF+, financed the expansion of the Daana Ltd. – a small-scale garment manufacturer based in Bishkek, with a premises area of 150 square meters.
Mrs. Gulmira Rafikzhanova, the owner of Daana, has been working in the garment industry for more than 10 years. In 2017, the company decided to expand its production to meet the growing demand, and at the same time to improve its energy efficiency.
Total project, which was fine-tuned with the support of KyrSEFF+ engineers, was financed by a USD 36 000 KyrSEFF+ loan. After the successful implementation and verification of the project , the company was awarded with a USD 4,870 grant provided by the EU Investment Facility for Central Asia (IFCA).
After the reconstruction, the production area is now 440 square meters; the building fully meets sustainable energy standards. The KyrSEFF+ loan was used for investments in thermal insulation (walls and floor), a highly energy efficient ventilation system with heat recovery and modern LED lights. In addition, 26 new sewing machines were part of the loan financing, and these machines also contribute to the overall energy savings.
“We used to buy two tons of coal each month for heating purposes and we had to hire a stoker. We burned textile material residues even though we understood that it pollutes the air and harms health,” – says the owner of Daana.
According to Gulmira Rafikzhanova, the investment allowed the company to expand its useful production area three times (to 440 m2), whereas the energy costs used for heating and lighting the new area is as low as it was for the previous small production area of 150 m2. Therefore it could be argued, that the company cut its energy cost by three.
According to KyrSEFF calculations, the company will enjoy energy saving of 60.2 MWt-h/year and achieve CO2 emissions reduction of 3.1 tons/a.
The modern ventilation system, which uses heat recovery for space heating purposes, also allowed the company to abolish the use of coal for heating.
“Our big problem in wintertime was the storage and utilization of ashes. Now we do not face any issues related to coal or firewood. The yard is now clean and tidy. We have also signed an agreement on the utilization of textile material residues with city municipal cleaning company “Tazalyk” – continues Gulmira Rafikzhanova.
Apart from the energy savings and CO2 emissions reduction achieved, ,many other aspects created benefits for the owner and the women working in the company:
“Seamstresses say that they like working with us, that they are in a good mood. They also mention that our premises have a good aura. That is all because our buildings are warm and bright,” – says the businesswoman, smiling.
As the investments have helped the company to expand, Daana is now planning to diversify its products and to hire 10 more seamstresses to work on a permanent basis.
