President Participates in 5th Session of Energy Transition Council in Vukovar
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović participated in the 5th session of the Energy Transition Council of the President of the Republic held in Vukovar. At the session a presentation was made of the Guidelines for Stimulating the Modernization of Central Heating and Cooling Systems, which wish to underscore the central heating and cooling system’s importance and positive impact on the decarbonization process in urban centres, and also suggest measures and mechanisms to remove the current obstacles.
In his address following the introductory part of the session, President Milanović said that we are slowly abandoning old ways of heating. “To arrive at new ways of heating is complex and expensive. But there is a solution, namely European funds. The European Union allocates huge sums of money. This is an area that will require very aggressive and quality administrative groundwork in order to start heating and cooling ourselves, perhaps not like in Copenhagen, which was a pioneer in the world, but like Vienna or Bratislava who beat us to it. These are important themes”, the President said.
The Special Adviser to the President for Energy and Climate and Chair of the Energy Transition Council of the President of the Republic Julije Domac, PhD, said in his address that Vukovar was deliberately selected to be the venue for the 5th session of the Energy Transition Council of the President of the Republic because Vukovar is a prime example of energy transition in district heating in the city’s neighbourhood. “We’re talking about demands that we have to protect the climate, and decarbonizationof heating is the only way to achieve these goals. This is a challenge that lies ahead for us and all European countries, however, Croatia has 30 billion euros at its disposal in the next decade to transform itself”, Council Chair Domac said.
In addition to the members of the Energy Transition Council, the director of the Energy Directorate in the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development Kristina Čelić, PhD, and the manager of energy activities of Tehnostan d.o.o. company Željko Bakula participated in the 5th session of the Energy Transition Council of the President of the Republic.
The Guidelines for Stimulating the Modernization of Central Heating and Cooling Systems, which were presented, feature a series of recommendations that the Council proposes to incorporate in the legislation of the Republic of Croatia that is being completed in accordance with European directives in order to encourage the modernization of existing and the development of new central and cooling systems.
Prior to the meeting, President Milanović in the company of the Mayor of the City of Vukovar Ivan Penava toured the solar thermal field and solar collectors in Borovo Naselje.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Ana Marija Katić