District heating and cooling: the neighbourly way to climate neutrality

The session aims to shed light on success stories from cities and municipalities across Europe, which have deployed or modernised district heating and cooling networks, to accelerate their heating and cooling transition and phase out fossil fuels. Drawing from relevant EU projects like the Celsius initiative, the session will showcase examples of successful transitions.

Furthermore, the session seeks to convene a diverse array of stakeholders, including European policymakers, representatives from municipalities, DHC utilities, cooperatives, and citizens. By doing so, it aims to spark essential discussions regarding the key factors for success in the local implementation of recently adopted EU legislation. These discussions will encompass facilitating project finance and garnering citizen acceptance.

Speakers

• Aurélie Beauvais, Managing Director, Euroheat & Power 
• Martina Olejnikova, Public Affairs Director, Veolia Energy Slovakia
• Cristina Castells Guiu, Energy and Environment Standards Director, Municipality of Barcelona, Spain 
• Michal Łakomski, Mayor's Proxy for Smart City, Head of Digitalization and Cybersecurity Office, City of Poznan, Poland
• Valérie Plainemaison, Secretary General, EFIEES
• Madis Laaniste, Policy Officer, DG ENER European Commission 

Agenda  

• Welcome and scene setting (10 min): Aurélie Beauvais, Managing Director, Euroheat & Power
• Short video clip (5 min): testimony from DHC end-users 
• Keynote speech (10 min): Madis Laaniste, Policy Officer Directorate-General of Energy, European Commission.   
• Panel (50 min):  
  • Moderator: Valérie Plainemaison, EFIEES’ General Secretary 
  • Local elected officials/city representatives (speakers to be confirmed) 
  • Mark Venus, Deputy mayor in charge of economic activities City of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
  • Martina Olejnikova, SZVT (DHC operators & cities), Slovakia 
  • Cristina Castells, Energy and Environment Director, Barcelona, Spain  
  • Michał Łakomski, Mayor's Proxy for Smart City, Head of Digitalization and Cybersecurity Office, City of Poznan, Poland 
• Q&A with the audience (15 min)