The capitial city of Georgia hosted a High-Level Conference. This is a conference on the Sustainable Heating and Energy Efficiency in the Eastern Partnership.The conference held on 15 and 16 April 2024.
The main organiser is CEER (Council of European Energy Regulators). CEER is hosting it on behalf of the European Commission’s EU4Energy program, the Elizbar Eristavi Energy Training Centre (ENTC) of the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC).
The conference is expected to facilitate capacity building as well as knowledge sharing, and a dialogue on sustainable heating practices, including policy development, modernization efforts, and renewable energy integration. Energy sector experts from Eastern Partnership countries will get the opportunity to learn from European experts on strategies to enhance environmental sustainability in the heating sector and energy efficiency initiatives in their countries.
Nicholas Cendrowicz, Head of the Cooperation Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia added that “Decarbonising the heating and cooling sector is the primary objective to achieve the EU’s energy and climate targets. At the same time increasing the use of renewable energy sources and boosting the energy efficiency of buildings is a common interest and shared goal that unites us all”.
On the other hand Mara Berzina Secretary General of the Council of European Energy Regulators added “In addressing the decarbonization challenge energy regulators of all the countries are dedicated to empowering consumers to actively participate in the energy transition for the sustainable development. Similarly EU4Energy is an important instrument in the Eastern Partnership region which has the aim to assist the countries to achieve these objectives by learning the EU experience”.
Notbaly the EU4Energy initiative is funded by the European Union with a total budget of €8.5 million. The project is being implemented by the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the Energy Community Secretariat (EnCS) jointly.