The professionals in the field of resource efficiency and energy efficiency audit from Armenia, Georgia and Belarus were invited to participate in the Regional Energy Management training initiated within the EU funded EU4Environment Resource efficiency and cleaner production project implemented by UNIDO and National Implementing Partner REC Caucasus Armenia (10-13th of August 2020).
The energy management training aimed to prepare internal energy auditors, RECP experts and internal energy managers ensuring practical approach to energy audits, enriching them with knowledge on typical hot spots for energy efficiency in SMEs, and an approach on how to (quickly) identify cost/benefit for energy efficient solutions. The training was conducted through the Zoom platform, using English as an instruction language, with working groups facilitated in national languages.
The Regional Energy Management Training targeted support to RECP experts in the process of RECP assessments and identification of suitable/valid options for energy efficiency and management within SMEs. The training was focused on
- Basics of energy management and auditing: planning of an energy audit, elements for an energy management system for SMEs, rules of the thumb, economic calculations, energy purchasing
- Engineering aspects: Energy-conscious building and renovation, heating and distribution of heat, process heat, compressed air, lighting, refrigeration, ventilation, air conditioning, electric drives, green-IT.
The training was facilitated by Ms. Nune Harutyunyan, EU4Environemnt RECP project national coordinator and was led by Mr. Johannes Fresner, International Expert on Energy and Resource Efficiency.
The training was largely supported by representatives of the EU delegations in Armenia and in Georgia Mr.Andrea Baggioli, International Aid and Cooperation Officer, Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, Mr. Andrej Bartosiewicz, EU Delegation Georgia, as well as the National focal points of the EU4Environment project, Mr. Avetis Hovhannisyan, advisor of the Minister of Economy, EU4Environment National Focal Point, Mr. David Advadze, Technical focal point, The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable development of Georgia. UNIDO was represented by Mrs. Tatiana Chernyavskaya, International Project Coordinator of EU4Environment Programme, UNIDO HQ, Mrs. Anahit Simonyan, Head of UNIDO Operations in Armenia, Mrs. Nune Harutyunyan, EU4Environment RECP project National coordinator (Armenia), Mr. Georgi Abulashvili EU4Environment RECP project National coordinator (Georgia), and RECP National experts.
The representative of the EU delegation in Armenia Mr.Baggioli has welcomed participants and mentioned the EU's support to the EU4Environment RECP project and its current actions, mentioning that the EU is satisfied with the results of the project, promising further support to new initiatives supporting the Circular economy and promotion of resource efficiency and cleaner production in the country. Mr. Avetis Hovhannisyan, Representative of Armenian Ministry of Economy, National Focal Point of EU4Environment project, has underscored the importance of EU’s support within the context of Circular economy promotion in Armenia, welcomed positive results reached so far within the project. He has mentioned that Ministry will continue to support activities of the EU4Environemnt programme, efforts of UNIDO and REC Caucasus Armenia Office, and the pool of national experts, which are an undeniable asset for further implementation of actions in support to Green economy mainstreaming within the business sector.
EMS training covered condensed content of the training program of EUREM (European energy manager), a qualification for energy auditors in several European countries. This training was an introduction to the different aspects of project identification and planning for energy efficiency, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The training has gathered experienced experts from Armenia, Georgia and Belarus with a solid background in resource efficiency and cleaner production and implementation of audits for SMEs. Experts have actively contributed to the practical case analysis building on their knowledge of analyzing energy balances using data of mixed quality and their previous involvement with SME. Training has covered Effective energy auditing for SMEs: Relevance for climate protection, characteristics of SME, appropriate audit methodology, topics of heating technology, combined heat and power, distribution of heat, biomass, solar thermal, biogas, buildings, process heat and heat recovery, rules of the thumb, refrigeration, air conditioning and ventilation technology, advanced technologies and methodologies including case studies: Photovoltaics, absorption cooling, organic Rankine cycle, Pinch analysis.
Post evaluation questionnaires were completed by the 22 training participants after the training, via the online evaluation platform (Evaluation Form, Regional Energy Management Training (10-13 August 2020), EU4Environment).
