2018 EU Sustainable Energy Week's focus is on clean energy transition

The annual EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) takes place between 4-8 June. The theme this year is 'Lead the clean energy transition'.

Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete opened the policy conference on 5 June at 9:00 with a  key note speech, followed at 11:00 by the annual EU Sustainable Energy Awards ceremony.

12 projects across 4 categories (Consumers, Public Sector, Young Energy Leaders and Businesses) made it onto the Awards shortlist this year. The Citizens’ Award was also presented to one of the 12 nominees, voted for by the public in the weeks leading up to EUSEW 2018.

• The Consumers award went to Bio.Energy.Parc (Saerbeck, Germany). In 2008, the 7,200 inhabitants of Saerbeck decided to become self-sufficient in renewable energy by 2030.  More info
• The Public Sector award went to PEACE_Alps (Turin, Italy), which supports Alpine authorities in making the transition to a low-carbon area. More info
• The Businesses award this year went to WiseGRID (Valencia, Spain), which is funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. WiseGRID has developed a set of 9 solutions to improve the electricity grid and empower customers. More info
• New this year is the Young Energy Leaders award which went to Czech Sustainable Houses (Český Krumlov, Czech Republic), an annual architectural competition inspiring young architects to lead the way in energy transition with their innovative, energy-saving designs. More info
• Finally, the Citizens’ Award was revealed, chosen from the 12 finalists in an online poll. Nearly 10 000 votes were cast online. At the 3 June deadline, WiseGRID was the winner with over 2 000 votes – confirming the jury’s choice.

Other activities include a chance to share ideas and good practices in the Networking Village on 6-7 June. In addition to these events in Brussels, a number of Energy Days are organised all over Europe throughout the months of May and June, giving citizens and businesses the opportunity to discover the latest developments in sustainable energy.

The EU Sustainable Energy Week focuses on activities to build a secure energy future for Europe. It brings together public authorities, private companies, NGOs and consumers to promote initiatives to save energy and move towards renewables for clean, secure and efficient power. Launched in 2006, it is organised by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) in close cooperation with the Directorate-General for Energy of the European Commission.

In his keynote speech, Commissioner Arias Cañete confirmed that the Commission will be launching a public consultation in the next few weeks in order to prepare the Commission Long-Term Strategy document on greenhouse gas emission reductions in accordance with the Paris agreement, as requested by EU leaders. To coincide with this consultation, the Commission is organising a major stakeholder conference on 10th and 11th July 2018.