Smart financing & technical support for sustainable energy actions in Greece
ManagEnergy Worksh0p

The workshop in Athens focused on smart financing mechanisms for supporting sustainable energy actions at the local and regional level. In the context of the current economic crisis, local and regional energy actors explored the possibilities of developing their projects with the participation of citizens as well as the private sector.

Training and capacity building was offered by two foreign experts:

• One from Germany, who explained in detail the concept, procedures, technical and economic aspects of cooperative energy schemes; and
• A second one from Portugal, who analysed how local authorities, with the support of national governments, can work closely with the private sector to mobilise local energy investments.

In addition to the knowledge-transfer from abroad, examples of Greek projects were analysed in depth to explain how funding instruments, such as the ERDF and the ELENA facility, can be utilised within the Greek context.

Participants were divided into two working groups, dedicated to specific topics: (1) Development of energy cooperatives and public private partnerships and (2) Access to financing and funding tools. Participants had the opportunity to ask questions to the experts and to their peers, exchange experiences and ideas, present their specific needs and seek answers. A set of conclusions and recommendations was prepared by each working group.

A plenary session at the end of the day helped to gather all recommendations, wrap up the workshop and connect the presentations and the training of the morning with the specific financial and technical issues raised in the afternoon.

Presentations and photographs can be found on the event website, as follows:

• ManagEnergy technical support tools and services [EL - in Greek]
  Stefanos Karterakis, ManagEnergy initiative
• Green Island & Rural Communities: New Development Framework [EL - in Greek]
  Mr K. Patlitzianas, CRES, Greece
• How to mobilise local energy investments: an example from Portugal [EN - in English]
  José Maria Costa, Mayor of Viana do Castelo, Portugal
• How to set up cooperative renewable energy schemes: the German experience [EN EL - in English, with some Greek]
  Timo Gensel, Dipl.-Ing. (TU), Project developer for energy cooperatives