GCC and EU experts share policies, practices for energy efficiency and cooling technologies
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 2: The Kuwait Society of Engineers (KSE) and the EU-GCC Clean Energy Technology Network organised a two-day high level workshop and training on energy efficiency and cooling technologies, held at the KSE premises. The event was held under the patronage of the Minister of Oil and the Minister of Electricity and Water, Essam Al Marzouq, and was organised in association with the College of Technological Studies — PAAET.
The aim of the event was to foster partnerships by bringing together high-level stakeholders from the European Union (EU) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to discuss Energy Efficiency and Cooling Technologies suitable for the region, exchange best practices and lessons learned and advance collaboration between EU and GCC actors.
During the opening ceremony, addresses were made by HE Minister of Oil and Minister of Electricity and Water, Essam Al Marzouq, Faisal Alajmi Chairman of Kuwait Society of Engineers, Ms Lucie Berger Head of Trade Section at the EU Delegation to KSA and the Gulf as well as Dr Hilal M. Almukhaini, Director Energy Department, GCC Secretariat General and Frank Wouters, Director EU GCC Clean Energy Technology Network.
The meeting gathered more than 120 distinguished experts from the EU and the GCC, representing at a high level European Commission, the KSE, the EU GCC Clean Energy Technology Network, the GCC Secretariat-General, the Ministry of Electricity and Water of Kuwait, PAAET, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Public Authority of Housing Welfare, Eurovent ME, EuroHeat and Power, Clean Energy Business Council, as well as other leading public and private sector representatives and experts.
“Energy efficiency is one of the priorities of the EU energy strategy. By using energy more efficiently from generation to final consumption, Europeans lower their energy bills, increase resilience, and help protect the environment. Energy efficiency provides significant cobenefits in terms of job creation, revenue generation, interaction with research and innovation as well as increasing competitiveness. Europe has a lot of lessons learnt and best practices to share with Kuwait and the GCC region. The EU GCC Clean Energy Technology Network is a mechanism that can facilitate this interaction and exchange among the two regions,” said Lucie Berger representing the EU delegation.
“The financial support of the European Commission enables the EU GCC Clean Energy Technology Network to organise events like this. Our aim is to bring people together, so real cooperation will take place between European and Kuwaiti companies and institutions in the field of energy efficiency”, noted Frank Wouters.