National Conference “Centralized Heating — The Foundation for Transition to Climate-Neutral Cities, Energy-Efficient and Low-Emission Buildings”

Together for the cities of the future

COGEN Romania, in partnership with SAMER Association, organized the National Conference in Brasov “Centralized Heating — The Foundation for the Transition to Climate-Neutral Cities, Energy-Efficient and Low-Emission Buildings”.
The event brought together more than 120 participants — representatives of the authorities, the energy industry and the economic environment — to analyze the development directions of heating systems in Romania.

The discussions highlighted the key role of central heating in achieving energy efficiency and emission reduction targets, as well as the importance of adapting to new European requirements.

The event was opened by the deputy mayor of Brașov, mr. Lucian Pătrașcu. In his speech, he outlined the city's progress in modernizing the heating system, investments in digitalization and energy efficiency, as well as the municipality's firm commitment to the goal of “zero emissions in buildings”.

Representatives of the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Environment stressed that Romania is at a decisive moment, in which the European directives on energy efficiency, energy performance of buildings and decarbonization of the energy sector require the acceleration of infrastructure modernization. Also, the representative of the Ministry of Energy presented the legislative amendments proposed by the new law on heating and cooling. European obligations require reducing emissions from buildings, improving the efficiency of heating networks and developing modern high-efficiency cogeneration capacities — making the modernization of centralized systems a strategic necessity for Romania.

MDLPA representatives presented the programs through which the ministry supports municipalities in ensuring the continuity of the public heating service and in upgrading local infrastructure. Funding lines dedicated to transforming networks into efficient and self-sustainable systems were highlighted, including support for investment in infrastructure, digitalisation and modern manufacturing.

European perspectives and international contributions

At this conference we had the honor of having among us international representatives and specialists who shared our European perspective.

Thus, World Bank specialists presented conclusions from the study conducted for the Ministry of Energy on the transition to modern and sustainable heating systems.
Hans Korteweg, Managing Director of Cogen Europe, highlighted the European developments in the field of cogeneration and its role in increasing energy efficiency at urban level.

Technical solutions and practical directions

Industry representatives presented concrete solutions for upgrading heating systems: integrating renewable sources, increasing production flexibility, digitizing networks and optimizing services to users.
These contributions provided municipalities with clear tools for energy planning and infrastructure development.

Conclusions

The conference concluded with the joint commitment of the authorities and industry to continue working together to upgrade heating systems and to support investments in cogeneration and energy efficiency.
Participants stressed the need to speed up modernisation processes and align with European directions on decarbonisation of buildings.

COGEN Romania will continue to actively contribute to these efforts by promoting efficient, modern and sustainable solutions for Romanian cities.

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