On 17-18 March 2011 a workshop “Energy and Climate Planning” was held in the framework of Municipal and Energy projects funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Among the workshop participants are representatives of the Regional Government, Local Authorities, municipal and private companies, Trade and Industry Chamber, Environmental and Energy Centres and educational instituions of the Kaliningrad region – 40 persons in total.

The workshop was devoted to issues related to climate and energy planning on the municipal level, implementation of the Federal Law on Energy Saving and Improving Energy efficiency. Analysis of municipal energy efficiency programmes was presented with focus on their strong and weak sides. Participants were able to learn of calculating municipal product, methodology of collecting information and calculating indicators for municipal programmes, as well as the method of calculating heat (energy) balance for municipalities.

Within the workshop a Round Table on “Climate planning on the municipal level and renewable energy sources” was held with participation of experts from the Nordic countries (Denmark and Finland) and Latvia. Participants got acquainted with the experiences of solving problems related to climate change at Turku municipality (Finland), and with the project of the Finnish Environment Institute (Finland) “Carbon neutral municipalities”. Russian experts from Kaliningrad and Saint-Petersburg shared their experiences on applying flexible Kioto mechanisms in Russia. Experts from Latvia presented the Programme for upgrading street lighting in municipalities - preparation, selection of light sources, characteristics and mechanisms of financing.

Aims and activities of the forthcoming project “Academy of energy planning on the municipal level (BALREPA)” were presented and discussed. The Academy will start in Kaliningrad in May 2011, it will involve representatives of municipal authorities, companies and young researchers from universities of Kaliningrad and countries of the Baltic Sea Region.

Tags: energy