The objective of the 2nd Concerted Action for the Energy Efficiency Directive (CA-EED 2) is to foster exchange of information and experience among Member States and other participating countries (Norway) with a view to facilitating to the implementation of the Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy efficiency (EED), including the implementation of the foreseen re-cast of this Directive. The specific objectives of the Action are: • To enhance and structure the sharing of information and experiences from national implementation whilst promoting good practice concepts in activities to improve and strengthen MS implementation of the EED. • To encourage dialogue between MS on common approaches for the effective implementation of particular parts of the EED. • To complement the work of the EED Committee assisting the European Commission. The expected impact of the Action consists of a more harmonized approach and improved implementation of the EED in all MS, as well as the transfer of good practices between countries. The objectives of the CA-EED 2 will be achieved by organising information exchange via amongst others 8 structured plenary meetings for coverage of the various topics. The meetings will allow experts from implementing bodies and ministries in the MS to discuss and exchange views, and aim to achieve as much convergence of objectives and methodologies as appropriate, avoiding redundant efforts and maximizing the benefits that can be obtained from the work otherwise required from individual MS working on their own. A large part of the work in the CA-EED 2 will be done in the sessions during the plenary meetings, focussing on good practice examples, but also through Working Groups that interact between the meetings and exchange of information through the forum on the CA-EED website. In order to structure the topics covered by the EED Expert Areas have been identified encompassing the main areas of the EED.

TIMEPAC will contribute to improving existing energy certification processes, moving from a single, static certification to more holistic and dynamic approaches that consider: a) the data generated in the overall energy performance certification process, from generation to storage, to analysis and exploitation, and throughout all the building lifecycle, from design, to construction and operation b) buildings as part of a built environment, connected to energy distribution and transport networks and c) buildings as dynamic entities, continuously changing over time. TIMEPAC will demonstrate the feasibility of combining EPC databases with other data sources to make certification more effective and reliable. The new methods and tools to enhance current certification practices will be developed in five Transversal Deployment Scenarios, and validated in four demonstration scenarios across six European countries: Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain. The outcomes will be used as training materials to further educate professionals involved in certification processes throughout Europe. An online platform will provide access to training materials and courses delivered in a variety of contexts (onsite and online, blended). A TIMEPAC Academy will further develop and exploit the innovative EPC enhancement methods and tools and the training materials developed in the project.

The SETcon 2021 proposal aims to successfully organize and hold the 15th edition of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan Conference and by its means to contribute to the goals of the SET Plan as it is outline on the Horizon Europe, Work Programme 2021-2022, “Climate, Energy and Mobility”). The European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) was established to accelerate the transformation of the European energy system and to bring new low-carbon energy technologies to market. It identifies actions for research and innovation throughout the whole innovation chain. SET-Plan conferences offers an unique opportunity for decision-makers, researchers and stakeholders to get together and evaluate the progress made towards achieving the SET-Plan’s goals and for informing the general public about the activities and get their support. Under the tittle Research & Innovation to deliver a just and sustainable energy transition present edition will also serve to present Slovenia as an engaged contributor to the SET-Plan priorities. The Conference will take place in Ljubljana on 25-26 November 2021 and will be co-organised by the Republic of Slovenia’s Ministry of Infrastructure as entity responsible of all activities on energy policies during the time of Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in coordination with the European Commission DGs Research and Innovation (R&I), Energy (ENER) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC).

The North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley – NAHV project builds on the LoI signed in March 2022 by representatives of the Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure, Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) Autonomous Region in Italy, contributing to the European Green Deal and European Hydrogen Strategy goals. The project’s high-level objective is the creation of a hydrogen-based economic, social and industrial ecosystem based on the capacity of the quadruple helix actors. This will drive economic growth, generating new job opportunities in the framework of both the green and digital transitions and, by creating the conditions for wider EU replicability, it will contribute to the creation of a European Hydrogen Economy, To fulfil these objectives the NAHV project involves a well-rooted partnership of 36 organizations (of which 2 in Hydrogen Europe, 3 in Hydrogen Europe Research), covering the transnational Central European area of 3 territories - Slovenia, Croatia and FVG Region, demonstrating cross-border integration of hydrogen production, distribution and consumption, and exchange of over 20% of NAHV annual hydrogen production of over 5000 tons. The project will activate 17 testbed applications in their related ecosystems, clustered in 3 main pillars - hard to abate, energy and transport sectors. These will act as real-life cases for piloting global hydrogen markets, moving from TRL 6 at the beginning to TRL 8 at the end of the project. Four fuel cell applications in the energy and transport sectors will be demonstrated. Testbeds will then be scaled up at industrial level as a replicable model, contributing to the decarbonisation of the 3 territories by harnessing renewables to improve system resilience, security of supply and energy independence. Replicability will also be ensured for the whole NAHV model, with the uptake of at least 5 additional hydrogen valleys in Europe, particularly in Central and South Eastern Europe.

The objective of the 3rd Concerted Action on the Energy Efficiency Directive (CA EED3) is to foster exchange of information and experience among Member States and other participating countries (Norway) with a view to facilitating the implementation of the Directive of 2018/2002 amending Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy efficiency (EED), including the implementation of the foreseen recast of this Directive . The Action follows on from the CA ESD, CA EED and CA-EED 2 which has helped MS with the interpretation of the legislation, the implementation options and support via detailed information and access to experts on mature policies and practices. The specific objectives of the Action are: • To enhance and structure the sharing of information and experiences from national implementation whilst promoting good practice concepts in activities to improve and strengthen MS implementation of the EED. • To encourage dialogue between MS on common approaches for the effective implementation of particular parts of the EED and synergies with RED and EPBD. • To complement the work of the EED Committee assisting the European Commission. The expected impact of the Action consists of a more harmonized approach and improved implementation of the EED in MS, as well as the transfer of good practices between countries and strengthened cross fertilisation with CA EPBD and CA RES. The CA EED3 brings together a unique group of experts and policy makers, it is the only informal group with full representation of all Member States and Norway and by its very nature provides MS, DG Energy and CINEA with a unique opportunity to communicate in an informal way on a technical level with relevant experts. The Concerted Action community has developed during the course of the CA ESD, CA EED and CA-EED 2 making it easy to find entry points in MS where without the Action contacts would be difficult. In turn the road is paved for bilateral cooperation.