Expert mission with visiting expert Jaroslav Pavlica from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic took place on the 10th of May in Tallinn. The day started with a seminar and discussions where firstly the RESINDUTRY project was introduced. The main part of the expert mission were presentations by Jaroslav Pavlica on the Czech energy savings programme OP EIC 2014-2020. He introduced activities and measures for the industry sector as well as results so far. The final presentation was performed by Mihkel Krusberg, advisor from the Estonian Ministry of Environment, who is dealing with Estonian industry sector measures. Also, both countries’ plans for the 2021-2027 financial period operational plan were described, including comments on the current state, and mutual challenges were exchanged and discussed. All key stakeholders regarding Estonian industry policy were present – the Ministry of Environment, Environmental Investments Centre and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
Presentations initiated many questions and discussions during the presentations and after. One of the most highlighted topics instead of the current process with new financial period plans was Czech selection criteria for applicants, especially how renewables are benefited based on the points system. Selection criteria in Czech are well described and the benefits of using renewable energy come clearly out in the evaluation. This raised a great discussion among participants, especially from people who are behind the creation of the support measures – the Czech system inspired Estonian policymakers and there were many aspects state was interested to consider for Estonian measures. It can also be considered important how Czech priority “Increase the share of Energy from RES” has described with the main task “support the sustainability of the Czech economy by using the highest-efficiency RES without any negative impact on the electricity system” as a negative impact possibility for grid has been highlighted and by evaluation criteria renewables production with higher on-site consumption is preferred.
After the seminar and study visit to Marmi Futerno took place. Marmi Futerno is a stone fabrication company producing high-quality interior products of marble, granite and engineered stone. They have applied to Estonian Environment Investment Centre’s measure “Company’s energy and resource efficiency” and got a grant for an investment project to introduce new technology and equipment for the company's production process to improve the use of resources and reduce energy and water consumption. Projected resource-saving was almost 25%. The investment gives kick for enterprise to raise quality, and increase production until it is planned to expand significantly today. During the visit, it was shown stone processing process is going, and how high-quality technology helps to produce quality products, speed up the process and limit production errors and residues. As well as how water is cleaned and re-used, how stone residues are processed and used for making secondary products and how final residues are processed and used.
Expert mission day ended with a joint dinner with further discussions until a friendly farewell and exchange of contacts with a plan to exchange information in the future.
