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Online Discussion “The Hermitage and HEINEKEN: new sources of energy in art”

Published 09 December 2020

Participating in the online discussion were Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage, Kirill Bolmatov, Director for Corporate Relations at HEINEKEN Russia, Alexei Bogdanov, Deputy General Director of the State Hermitage, and Alexander Isayev, the museum’s chief power engineering specialist.

Mikhail Piotrovsky began with words of welcome: “Our partnership with HEINEKEN is an excellent example of technologies and art taking joint steps towards the development of culture. We are performing a social mission – establishing a frame of reference, setting examples so that people can look at our experience. Energy efficiency is acquiring enormous significance in an age of concern about nature and about resources that are constantly going up in price. And we are delighted that in this sphere the Hermitage is among the avant-garde.”

Since 2018, the HEINEKEN company has been a partner of the State Hermitage in an energy efficiency programme. As part of the project to increase the energy efficiency of Russia’s largest museum, HEINEKEN has donated around 10 million roubles. Those funds were spent on the purchase and installation of energy-saving equipment for the Small Hermitage and General Staff building. The project began with the installation of roller doors in front of the historical carriage entrances to the General Staff building that tightly seal the entire perimeter of the arch and retain warmth inside the atrium.

One more major undertaking was the installation at the substation in the Small Hermitage of two active filters that regulate the quality of the electricity supply. This prevents the circuits from becoming overheated and reduces the likelihood of expensive equipment malfunctioning.

“This project combined some very important priorities for HEINEKEN – concern for the environment and support of cultural heritage. We are delighted that we have been able to help the Hermitage in creating optimal conditions for its exhibits and visitors,” Kirill Bolmatov said.

The State Hermitage has approved a “Programme for energy-saving and increasing energy efficiency for the period 2019–23”. The funds will be directed towards providing the main complex of museum buildings with new energy-saving equipment, on the introduction and development of a system for the automation and centralized monitoring of the operation of the plumbing and heating, optimization of the museum’s energy-saving system and increasing the efficiency of the current power installations.

Among other things, as Alexei Bogdanov stated, one of the State Hermitage’s projects for the immediate future will be the development of an alternative energy supply system at the Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Centre. The site already has solar panels that generate electricity. Now the Hermitage’s engineers are planning to install solar vacuum tubes that use the sun’s energy to produce heat, which will then be passed on to the boiler house at the Restoration and Storage Centre. The plan is for this equipment, which is up to 80% efficient, to substantially reduce the museum’s heating costs.

Details of how many bulbs had to be changed in the Hermitage and how to create the ideal climate conditions for works of art can be found (in Russian) on the website https://www.ecohermitage.ru/electro/

Подробнее о том, сколько ламп пришлось заменить в Эрмитаже и как создавать идеальные климатические условия для предметов искусства, читайте на сайте – https://www.ecohermitage.ru/electro/