Good practice:

Training Sessions on Energy Efficiency

Given the innovation across the entire energy sector, training professionals in this field strongly contributes to increase their performance in the local and global market. From October 2019 to March 2020, dedicated training sessions were addressed to local energy managers appointed by public bodies. Also, starting in April 2020, several training sessions were held online for energy professionals and specialists who develop their activity on key areas in the promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy resources, namely:
- Domestic Hot Water (DHW) systems
- Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning Basics
- Solar thermal energy
- Psychometrics
- Heat pumps
- Air conditioning
- Sanitary hot water systems
The Regional Directorate for Energy organised each training session and contacted several stakeholders, entities and professionals in order to reach the interested parties. The sessions were free for the trainees.
This focus on training represents itself a strategic investment in the enhancement of regional technical staff through investment in their energy qualification.

Multidisciplinary team with energy and communication specialists (€20k/year).

There were 440 participants in a total of 11 training sessions.
These training sessions have allowed for greater awareness of energy efficiency, For instance, based on the results from the regional system of incentives for the production and storage of energy from renewable sources – Proenergia, between 2019 and 2020, the total investment increase was 24%.

Lack of information regarding energy efficiency issues remains a persisting challenge.

There is a great potential for learning and transfer. The organisation of the training sessions is relatively easy. A multidisciplinary team is necessary along with dissemination campaigns. The targeted sectors can also be adapted according to the reality of each region.