Nikos Mantzaris represented the Green Tank at the Balkan Clean Energy Transition (BCET) Conference held in Kozani on September 19-22, 2019.
In his main address, he referred to the positive developments at the local and national level regarding the transition to the post-lignite era, such as the establishment of the National JUst Transition Fund, the common approach followed by the mayors, governor and the trade unions on just transition issues and the participation of region of Western Macedonia in the Coal Regions in Transition initiative by the European Commission established for the technical and financial support of the 41 lignite regions in the EU. He then outlined the steps that need to be taken in the future in order to successfully address the enormous challenge of moving beyond coal in a socially equitable way.
In addition, Nikos Mantzaris participated in a roundtable discussion on the new energy identity of Western Macedonia, along with the Governor of the region of Westerm Macedonia, Mr. Kassapidis, the former Mayor of Kozani, Mr. Ioannidis, the World Bank’s advisor Mr Walters, the representative of EURACOAL Mrs Eisenvortova and Mr Fornea from the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). During the discussion, Nikos Mantzaris had the opportunity to present his thoughts on the possibilities of converting existing lignite plants in Western Macedonia into energy storage facilities using a variety of technologies.
