Debate

How to aggregate small energy investments into a large regional project? Thursday, 13 October 2016

Committee of the Regions Jacques Delors Building, Room JDE 62, 99-101 Rue Belliard, Brussels

Programme 11.00 Registration 11.15 Welcome and opening Zeljko Kolar, Prefect of the Krapina-Zagorje County Michel Lebrun, European Committee of the Regions 12.00 Policy panel – How can regions (and energy agencies) aggregate energy projects and what can they expect from Brussels? Dr Julije Domac, FEDARENE President and North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency Ralf Goldmann, European Investment Bank Anette Jahn, Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Paul Kenny, Tipperary Energy Agency Timothée Noël, European Commission - Directorate-General for Energy 13.00 Networking & lunch Moderator:

Mislav Togonal, Croatian National Television

General outline – European Week of Regions and Cities The European Week of Regions and Cities (OPEN DAYS) is an annual four-day event during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement European Union cohesion policy, and prove the importance of the local and regional level for good European governance. The event was created in 2003 when the Committee of the Regions invited Brussels-based local and regional representations to the European Union to open their doors to visitors simultaneously. One year later the European Commission's DG for Regional Policy also joined the adventure. Developing from the initial concept, the event has become a European networking platform for experts in regional and local development. Exchange of good practice in economic development and social inclusion, cross-border cooperation, public-private partnerships, regional innovation and community-led local development have become some of its many topics. Over the years, the event has grown into the key event on EU Regional Policy. It welcomes some 6.000 participants in October each year (local, regional, national and European decision-makers and experts) for more than 100 workshops and debates, exhibitions and networking opportunities. In addition to the Brussels-based workshops, some 250 local events are run from September to November all over Europe. Organised by

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Debate outline The main aim of this debate is to guide and motivate regions and cities to aggregate small investments into bigger investment projects in order to maximise their feasibility and success for aggregated financing. This event is organised in two parts – policy panel with participation of Committee of the Regions, European Commission, FEDARENE, European Investment Bank and EASME and best practice examples session where examples will be presented from Austria, Croatia, Finland, France, Ireland and Slovenia. The event is aimed at regions and cities and will build upon some most recent successful examples like ELENA supported NEWLIGHT project where Krapina-Zagorje and Zagreb County (Croatia) aggregated street lighting reconstruction projects in 57 cities and municipalities into one – single, regional project where total investment exceeded 20 mil Euros. Regions and cities play an essential role in the implementation of energy efficiency policies and in achieving the Europe 2020 objectives, and this workshop aims to support those organisations. They embody the relevant decision making at a local and regional level in sectors such as transportation, urban planning, buildings and welfare, which makes them the most appropriate decision makers for investment actions in energy efficiency. As public funds alone are not deemed as sufficient for delivering ambitious EU energy targets a different, more concentrated approach relying on more market based solutions is required. The European Fund for Strategic Investments was initiated in order to capture riskier projects that require interaction between public and private sector investors to achieve strategic investments and initiatives at a local and regional level. The debate intends to explore options to encourage and support the creation of regional platforms aiming at aggregating small energy efficiency projects (of the same type) in order to maximize the use of and access to the EFSI. A strong and wide European dimension of the event is guaranteed through the workshop co-organisers the Committee of the Regions and FEDARENE.

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Moderation by Mislav Togonal, Croatian National Television Policy panel consists of six well known experts and policy creation participants at various levels – EU, national and regional:

Biographies

Mr. Željko Kolar, Prefect of the Krapina-Zagorje County He was born on August 10 1967 in Klanjec and finished high-school for land surveyors in Zagreb. He is married to Mira Hrbud Kolar, with whom he has two children. From 2009 he was the mayor of Klanjec, and from 2011 he was elected member of the Croatian Parliament. He held the duty of vice president of the Parliament’s Environment and Nature Conservation Committee. In local elections in 2013, he was elected in the first round of elections Prefect of Krapina-Zagorje County.

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Mr Michel Lebrun, Member of the Committee of the Regions Born in Namur on January 31, 1949, Michel Lebrun has been a member of the Committee of the Regions since 1994 and sits on The Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) and the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER). He has drafted many opinions for the Committee of the Regions and is an expert in the fields of energy, resource efficiency and waste reduction. At the local level, he is a member of Viroinval Municipal Council.

Dr Julije Domac, FEDARENE President and North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency From 2013 President of FEDARENE – European Association of Regions and Energy Agencies and from 2008 Managing Director of North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency. During his 20 years career, Julije worked as the national biomass programme – BIOEN coordinator in Croatia, project director and technical editor for FAO, Task Manager for the International Energy Agency and national project leader for UNIDO. Since 2005, Julije is expert evaluator for the European Commission and member of various committees and advisory bodies.

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Mr Ralf Goldmann, European Investment Bank Mr Ralf Goldmann is Head of Energy and Solid Waste Division within the Advisory Services JASPERS Department of the EIB. Prior to joining the Bank, Ralf was Head of the national and international consulting divisions of the Berlin Energy Agency and, prior to that, Head of the Energy Division in a consultancy company in Luxembourg. Ralf holds a degree in mechanical engineering specialised in thermodynamics and has some 20 years’ experience working in the energy efficiency sector.

Ms Anette Jahn, Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Anette is Head of Sector, i.e. Head of the Energy Efficiency Finance Team, Energy Unit – EASME. Previously, she was also Head of Sector in Renewable Energy Unit, European Commission – EASME and Policy Officer at DG ENERGY in European Commission. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in International Politics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and Master of Arts Degree in Economics and Business Administration, Karlsruhe, Germany.

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Mr Paul Kenny, Tipperary Energy Agency Paul is the Chief Executive Officer of Tipperary Energy Agency. He has been with the agency since 2006 and is involved with both renewable energy (wind and bio-energy) and energy efficiency projects. Paul’s key technical competencies are in the areas of wind, biomass and solar energy development, energy efficiency in domestic and commercial buildings and energy efficiency in the water industry. Paul has worked on a large number of the agencies European funded projects. He also works as a consultant on behalf of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s public sector programs.

Mr Timothée Noël, European Commission, DG Energy Policy Officer at the European Commission's Directorate General for Energy. He is working in the financing team of the energy efficiency unit. Prior to joining DG Energy, Mr Noël was Project Officer at the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises (EASME) where he was following the EU's H2020 and Intelligent Energy Europe Programme in the field of Energy Services and the Concerted Action supporting implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU).

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Directions

The Committee of the Regions is located less than 10 minutes by foot from both Maelbeek and Schuman metro stations serving lines 1 and 5. It is 2 minutes from the European Parliament. From Brussels National Airport (BRU) Options: Taxi Cost: 45 EUR Travel Time: 20 minutes Bus

Cost: 4.5 EUR (or 6 EUR for tickets bought from the driver: have change ready) Travel Time: 30 minutes

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Bus number 12 leaves from airport’s Level 0 every 20 minutes from 5 am until 23.25 pm towards Luxembourg which is the last stop. From there go back along Rue de Trèves and take the first turn to the right. Walk about 100 m, the Committee of the Regions will be on the right. More information about the airport line: https://www.stib-mivb.be/airport-line.html?l=en. Train

Cost: 8.50 EUR Travel Time: 40 minutes (including the metro)

Take the train for Brussels Central / Brussel-Zuid / Bruxelles-Midi / Mons/Quevy (leaves every 20 minutes) and exit at the Central Station in Brussels. From there, take Metro 1 (direction Stockel) or Metro 5 (direction: Herrmann-Debroux). Exit at Schuman Station. The CoR is an 8-minute walk from Schuman Station. Take Rue Froissart at the roundabout and then Rue Belliard. Walk about 400 m, the CoR will be to your left. From Charleroi Brussels South Airport (CRL) Taxi

Travel time: 50 - 60 minutes

Bus

Cost: 28 EUR return ticket Travel time: approx. 1 hour More information: https://www.brussels-city-shuttle.com/en/#/

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Important information  

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Please arrive to the Committee of the Regions at least 30 minutes before the start of the event to allow for queues at the entrance and security checks Badges will be scanned at the entrance of workshop rooms in European Commission and European Committee of the Regions buildings. Only participants accepted for the workshop will get access to the room. Unregistered participants will be asked to wait outside the room and will be granted access in case the room is not filled 5 minutes before the start of the debate. In order to receive your EWRC participant’s badge you will need to come to the EWRC welcome desks located in the CoR and EC Charlemagne building. You will have to present a printed e-mail which includes your accreditation bar code and your ID/passport.

In case of any issues please contact: Ms Zvonka Gverić: +32 496 233 942

Join the discussion: #EUWRC #EUWRCThinkBig We are looking forward to your participation!

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