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EU4Energy High-level Conference on Energy Efficiency in Armenia

On 8 November 2017 in Yerevan Armenia, EU4Energy put on a high-level conference on unlocking the energy efficiency potential of Armenia’s residential and public buildings. The conference was co-organised by the Directorate-General of Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG-NEAR) of the European Commission, the Energy Charter Secretariat and the International Energy Agency in close cooperation with the EU Delegation in Armenia and hosted by the Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of Armenia. Energy Charter Secretary General Dr. Urban Rusnák opened the event alongside with Mr. Lawrence Meredith, Director Neighbourhood East of DG NEAR, and the Deputy Minister Mr. Hayk Harutyunyan. Overall, more than 100 representatives from government institutions, donor organisations, international financial institutions, the private and public sectors, as well as technical experts from NGOs and academia took part in the event. 

Energy efficiency has become a key priority in Armenia’s energy policy. Recently, Armenia has set a target of reducing its energy consumption by 20% vis-à-vis 2010-2012 levels. And a majority of energy efficiency measures contributing to this objective will be coming from the buildings sector. In this sense, the conference was meant to help guide Armenia in striving towards this ambitious goal. As such, speakers summarised the challenges Armenia still faces in opening up the market for energy efficiency investments in the buildings sector; they shared lessons learned and success stories; and they concluded with a set of operational recommendations and reforms that would help unlock the full market potential of energy efficiency in this area. These recommendations cover the legislative, policy-making and regulatory aspects of energy efficiency in buildings, as well as the financial instruments that Armenia could adopt in order to mobilise investments. 

The EU4Energy Initiative is an EU-funded technical assistance programme that, through the Governance Project, supports Eastern Partnership countries, including Armenia, in improving their legal and regulatory frameworks in order to achieve more efficient, connected and low-carbon energy sectors in line with best European and international practices.