CLEAN project partners celebrated the 1st Interregional Seminar focused on facilitating the exchange of experience and knowledge transfer on measures addressing the energy efficiency in the context of Covid-19 on January 25.
This week we will focus on CLEAN project partner Region of Crete (Greece). Maria Apostolaki from Region Crete explained that the pandemic caused significant delays in planned energy investments in Crete. She said that “remote working has changed the operating profile of the buildings, reducing energy intensity in some but increasing it in others”. Regional public bodies and academic institutes are carrying out extensive research to estimated and assess both the temporary and the permanent effects of the pandemic in Crete. The full impact of the Covid-19 crisis may take years to properly understand.
During the pandemic, the following Good Practices were identified in Region of Crete, that were applied to face the negative effects of the Covid-19:
- Τhe Region of Crete has applied for and been approved support by the European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) Mechanism in order to facilitate and speed-up the maturing process of energy projects in Crete. ELENA is a joint initiative by the EIB and the EC under the HORIZON 2020 programme that supports the preparation of projects that improve energy efficiency and renewable energy use in buildings.
- The Directorate of Environment and Spatial Planning of the Region of Crete, in order to better respond to the new form of work imposed by the pandemic and facilitate distance working, proceeded to the development of the Integrated Repository. It is an online platform that gathers the entire file of the Directorate, through which the employees have direct and fast access to all the files they need for their daily work.
- Photo-Catalytic Nano Materials is a spin-off company of the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) based in Heraklion (Region of Crete), the company is designed to leverage lab-scale research results on innovative photocatalytic nanomaterials after the needs derived from the pandemic and produces novel high-performance photocatalytic materials operating under the influence of solar and/or artificial (indoor) lighting for improving air quality, saving energy and disinfecting Bacteria and Viruses.
- MINOA ENERGY is the first Energy Community in Crete, with more than 200 members and the Community has responded to the pandemic in several ways:
> Energy experts offer non-profit advice to citizens for energy saving measures
> A 405kWp Photovoltaic Station using virtual net metering has been installed and will be offering to the members of the community energy self-sufficiency for the next 25 years.
> The Management Board of MINOA ENERGY decided to cover the electricity needs of 80 vulnerable families, affected by the pandemic and the earthquakes, in cooperation with the Region of Crete.
CLEAN project partners continue working to face the new challenges that Covid-19 brought in the field of energy efficiency to the partner regions.
Stay tuned for further updates!
