Georgia Claims 3rd place in EU Sustainable Energy Award for EaP

The winners of the second edition of the EU Sustainable Energy Award for the Eastern Partnership were announced at an award ceremony as part of the EU Sustainable Energy Week, with the Georgian project of  ‘Biomass Energy and Energy Efficient Technologies as Sustainable Energy Solutions’ coming in third place. 

Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi congratulated all the award recipients, with the main prize awarded to the ‘Green Light Moldova - Modernization and Saving Energy in Street Lighting’ project.

The second place went to the ‘EU4Civil Society Energy Efficiency in Armenian Communities’ project, and the third place was awarded to the Biomass Energy and Energy Efficient Technologies as Sustainable Energy Solutions in Georgia’ project. All projects competing in the award were EU-funded initiatives.

The winners were selected by public vote from a shortlist of six finalists. The award is part of the European Union Sustainable Energy Week 2020 (EUSEW) and was extended to the Eastern Partnership (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) for a second time this year. The competition recognizes inspiring EU-supported energy efficiency and renewable energy projects that directly help citizens and communities save energy or switch to sustainable sources.

Georgia's 'Biomass Energy and Energy Efficient Technologies as Sustainable Energy Solutions' project was funded within the European Union Covenant of Mayors Demonstration Projects and co-financed by Telavi Municipality. The project envisages full retrofitting of two municipal kindergartens with modern energy efficiency technologies using renewable energy. In addition, a pilot to establish a supply chain of locally available, environmentally-friendly agricultural waste (vine pruning) was set up to produce energy to replace imported natural gas and unsustainably harvested fuel wood to operate modern autonomous heating systems.

Energy efficiency is a key policy goal within the Eastern Partnership. Around €170 million has been invested in this field in the past ten years, with one-tenth of the population in EaP countries having benefitted from more energy-efficient and affordable municipal infrastructure and services. The work in this field continues and will have an increased focus on environment and climate resilience.

Source: euneighbours.eu

By Ana Dubadze