The event “Supporting the Implementation of Smart Financing for Energy Efficiency in Greece.2024”, the 1st National Roundtable of SMAFIN Expanded Project in Greece, was organised by Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving and INZEB, on Thursday 30 May 2024.
The Introductory Plenary Session of the Roundtable began with a welcome speech from Dimitrios Kardomateas, President of the Board & General Director, CRES. The panel on “European and National energy efficiency policy framework and financing initiatives” was coordinated by Charalambos Malamatenios, Head of the Division for Energy Policy and Planning, CRES. Eduardo Soares Antunes, Policy Officer, DG ENER, European Commission
(online), Panagiotis Ηabesis, Head, Development Programs Department and Sustainability Unit, Hellenic Bank Association, Dimitris Kollias, Energy Transition Strategist, Advisor to Deputy Minister of Environmentand Energy, Ministry of Environment and Energy, and Kiki Papadopoulou, Head, Department for Dissemination of RES & EE Applications Department, CRES, were the invited speakers.
01. The Introductory Plenary Session
02. The panel of the Introductory Plenary Session. From Left to right: Mr Kardomateas, Mr Kollias, Mr Malamatenios, Mr Habesis
Three parallel sessions followed, to delve on the topics of Energy Efficiency Financing in Private and Public Buildings at National Scale (Session I), Energy efficiency financing in Private and Public Buildings under European Funding (Session II), and Energy Efficiency Financing in Businesses (Session III).
Session I, Energy Efficiency Financing in Private and Public Buildings at National Scale, delved into the current national programmes, their strengths and weaknesses, and discussed the optimal strategies for increasing the number of future renovations. Coordinated by Alice Corovesi, Managing Director, INZEB, Vicky Sita, Head, Energy Policy and Energy Efficiency Directorate, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Eleftheria Touloupaki, Architect, PhDc, Project Manager, INZEB, Minas Iatridis, Head, Energy Policy Analysis Department, CRES, and George Kouloutkis, Director of Local Government, Public Entities & Business Financing, Deposit & Loan Fund, exchanged their views, and explored the available resources and possible collaborations
03. The First Parallel Session: Financing Energy Efficiency In Private & Public Buildings National Programmes
Moderated by Vlassis Oikonomou, Director, Institute for European Energy and Climate Policy, IEECP, Session II – Energy efficiency financing in Private and Public Buildings under European Funding, featured Eleni Gioti, Senior Advisor, EIB Advisory Services, European Investment Bank, Dinos Papapolyzos, Managing Partner, TREK Development, and Dimitris Mezartasoglou, Energy Policy Analysis Department, CRES. The panel discussion focused on the technical assistance ELENA – European Local Energy Assistance, that grants support to prepare sustainable investments in Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Transport and Residential Sector buildings, and showcased successful case studies of ELENA in Greece.
04. The Second Parallel Session: Financing Energy Efficiency In Private & Public Buildings European Funding & Case Studies
Session III – Energy Efficiency Financing in Businesses was coordinated by Christos Tourkolias, Energy Policy Analysis Department, CRES. Together with Ivana Rogulj, Institute for European Energy and Climate Policy – IEECP, and Kostas Dimopoulos, Green Buildings & TM, Climate Strategy and Delivery, EBRD (online), they discussed, among other topics, the difficulties faced by businesses in EU investments (e.g. long repayment periods), as well as accessing funds through loans.
05. The Third Parallel Session: Financing Energy Efficiency In the Tertiary Sector and the Industry
The 1st National Roundtable in Greece of the SMAFIN Expanded concluded with the Closing Plenary, where Vlassis Oikonomou, Elftheria Touloupaki, and Christos Tourkolias, presented the results of the three parallel sessions.
06. Closing Plenary – Results. From Left to right: Vlasis Oikonomou, Elftheria Touloupaki, Christos Tourkolias
07. View of the audience