The 16th edition of the European Sustainable Energy Week draws to a close

The 2022 edition of the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW), the European Commission’s biggest event dedicated to energy efficiency and renewable energy, is coming to a close. It featured 40 different plenary and policy sessions over 4 highly eventful days with additional networking opportunities today.

Around 1 500 delegates attending in person and more than 5 000 tuned in remotely in the course of the week – roughly double last year’s numbers – due to this year’s first-ever hybrid format. The policy sessions focused on different energy areas, such as renewables, energy efficiency, digitalisation and decarbonisation. The concerns of consumers and a fair energy transition were common themes in many of these sessions, as well as in the networking discussions and in the sessions organised with the Youth Policy Labs, designed to involve young people in the policy conversations about the energy future of Europe.  

The conference was opened on 26 September by Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson alongside high-level speakers from the Czech Presidency of the Council and the European Parliament. In the current context, perhaps the most symbolic speaker at the opening session was Yaroslav Demchenkov, Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine, who told the audience: “Clean energy gives freedom, and brings more peace”. This was endorsed by Commissioner Simson, who said

Our energy reality might look very different now than it did a year ago, but our aim remains the same: becoming climate neutral. A green and clean energy system is the only way we can ensure security in the future.

Another highlight from the first day was the traditional European Sustainable Energy Awards ceremony, where the following winners were voted in the four different categories (with more than 12 000 votes cast):

• Young Energy Trailblazer: Timea Farkas, a 25 year-old engineer and sustainability enthusiast from Romania, who has been a real driving force for helping SMEs to reduce their emissions by raising awareness of the multiple benefits of energy efficiency measures in Romania.
• Women in Energy: Andreia Melo Carreiro, a pioneer in the Azores who has worked on the development of innovative technologies, solutions and public policies applied to energy.
• Local Energy Action: Minoan Energy Community, a group that completed a 405 kW net metering photovoltaic plant in just 7 months, offering free electricity to more than 100 households and businesses for the next 25 years.
• Innovation: MUSE GRIDS, an Italian project seeking to be an industry and social-driven lighthouse project for the energy transition.

The videos presenting the 12 EUSEW Awards competitors are available in the EU Sustainable Energy Week playlist on YouTube and in the European Commission's Audiovisual Service portal.

EUSEW’s second day held a range of speeches and parallel sessions on digitalisation and repowering the EU, while the third day put the spotlight on renewables and energy efficiency. In a special session to mark the launch of the European Biomethane Industrial Partnership, Executive Vice-President European Commission Frans Timmermans said

The only way we as Europeans will increase our energy sovereignty and self-reliance is through renewable energy. The only way we can make sure that nobody can blackmail us in the future is to have our own energy resources.

The final full day looked at the consumer angle of energy issues and decarbonisation. In the keynote speech on consumers, Spanish MEP Susana Solís Pérez said: "Europe needs to be there for those in difficulty: it has to show families its added value. Emergency interventions are absolutely necessary, no doubt, but these interventions have to be temporary". On decarbonisation, DG ENER Deputy Director-General Matthew Baldwin stressed that the focus on the energy crisis has not lessened the ambition of addressing climate change, and underlined: “Rooftop solar panels, heat pumps, hydrogen, biomethane – if we can deliver on these issues, we won’t be just delivering on sustainability, but on energy security as well.”

In the closing session, Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager gave an overview of where the EU stands – and the importance of energy. She concluded: “This week for sustainable energy is a beacon for hope, enthusiasm and energy in a world that is quite gloomy right now. It is a big encouragement.”

Related links

• European Sustainable Energy Week
• EUSEW 2022 Awards winners
• Recordings on EUSEW's YouTube channel: Opening session, awards and debate | EUSEW 2022 sessions