CELSIUS Summit 2018

Building on the momentum generated by the CELSIUS Project, the Celsius Summit was arranged in Brussels, Belgium, on 21st November 2018.  This marked the official launch of Celsius 2.0.

 

The aim of CELSIUS 2.0 is to continue working with member cities around Europe in the endeavour of facilitating the energy transition toward a more sustainable future that is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, with the vision to accelerate the transition to smart and sustainable heating and cooling solutions. Among other things, this includes recuperating the available waste heat in cities and allowing heating and cooling to be a smart part of the energy system as a whole.

The day in Brussels was represented by industry leaders from all over Europe ranging from various fields, such as cities, businesses, energy service companies and academia. The financial sector was represented by the European Investment Advisory Hub, European Investment Bank, among others. City of Gothenburg with Johanneberg Science Park, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Euroheat & Power and IMCG partnered the event.

The event was categorised into 4 structured panel discussion sessions, as summarised below

1. Stakeholder coordination to find game changing solutions

The first session underlined the importance of collaboration, something which already CELSIUS 1.0 very much took to heart. There were discussions around how regional, national and local governments, private companies and research institutions can collaborate to implement innovative solutions that could revolutionise heating and cooling in Europe.

Purpose: Show the importance of multilevel cooperation between governments, industry and civil society.

2. End-user engagement as a key to delivering sustainable heating and cooling to our cities

Some of the main questions that were investigated during the second session revolved around the role of the end-user in the future energy system. What role can end-users play in making the energy transition a reality? What has worked, what has not and why? How can customer engagement improve business models?

Purpose: Showcase solutions for improving end-user engagement.

3. Panel discussion 3 – Keeping it cool as temperatures rise

There is a growing demand for cooling systems in Europe, and the world, and it is crucial that we deploy innovative and resource efficient cooling solutions. Increased access to inefficient air conditioners is creating a vicious heating cycle (polluting coolers contribute to global warming, consequently increasing the demand for cooling). How can district cooling catch up with district heating in terms of technologies, distribution and recuperation of waste energy?

Purpose: Accelerate the deployment of smart cooling solutions.

4. Investing in the future

There is a great array of public and private funding possibilities that are not necessarily being utilised by cities as much as they could. The last session aimed at investigating the hows, whats and whys. Why are the funding possibilities not utilised to the extent they could be? What are the real barriers for cities to receive funding support? How do they vary depending on the project’s development stage? How can they be overcome?

Purpose: Engage discussion around the different types of support that are available for cities to finance their heating and cooling plans.

 

The day was filled with enthusiastic knowledge-sharing, good discussions and partnership-building around sustainable heating and cooling solutions.  Goal would be that the learnings will continue to improve and support the city networks, influence policies and support the deployment and upscaling of innovative technologies around Europe – something which we at Heat Networks by Sweden continue to strongly support.

 

Image result for celsius 2018 brussels

 


Sweden is at the forefront of decentralised heat networks technology. Our aim for “Heat Networks – Sustainability by Sweden” is to facilitate knowledge sharing between British and Swedish stakeholders and develop and encourage environmental and economic best practice.

To find out how we can help you and your organisation, please contact our London-based “Heat Networks” team. We can introduce you to leading consultants, suppliers of technology and services who will be pleased to share know-how of the development of heat network solutions.

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