Preparations are underway for the 2nd Distributed Energy Congress - Local Energy for the Future, which will take place on 28-30 October this year. One of the initiatives preceding this largest distributed energy event in Poland was an information conference held at the Centre for Computer Science of the AGH University of Science and Technology.
The information day of the 2nd Distributed Energy Congress took place on 14 June 2024.
During the meeting, the organisers presented the main programme and organisational assumptions of the Distributed Energy Congress, and the key point of the event was an expert debate with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Association of Polish Voivodeships, energy clusters and higher education.
The conference was chaired by Piotr Krasnowolski and officially opened by AGH Rector Prof. Jerzy Lis, who introduced the idea of the Congress as a platform for integrating distributed energy (ER) development communities and all stakeholders in the energy transition (TE).
Dr Sławomir Kopeć, Vice-Chairman of the Programme Council of the 2nd KER, presented the programme of the event including plenary sessions, which will include keynote speeches and general discussions on the directions of Polish EO, and thematic sessions developing specific ER contexts.
A presentation on the Energy Transformation Ambassadors programme was given by Prof Ewa Adamiec from AGH University of Science and Technology. Participants also had the opportunity to learn about the Energy Transformation Index for Poland, which was the subject of a presentation by Prof. Łukasz Lach from AGH.
In addition to being informative, the conference aimed to provide an overview of the most important challenges that we, as a country, need to address to achieve an effective energy transition - which was discussed during a panel discussion led by Prof. Zbigniew Hanzelka of AGH. Experts included Olgierd Dziekoński - Union of Voivodeships of the Republic of Poland, Zbigniew Kąkol - Academic Council of AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Adrian Kondaszewski - Deputy Director of the Department of Strategy and Analysis, Ministry of Climate and Environment, Łukasz Lach - AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Maciej Mróz - Vice President of the Management Board of Tauron Dystrybucja, Agnieszka Spirydowicz - President of Zgorzelec Cluster for Development of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, and Barbara Worek - Jagiellonian University.
The panellists discussed, among other things, the mission of building ER awareness, various aspects of generational change, the need for legislative and infrastructural change, creating space for shaping education for new professions, new EO-related professions and the role of higher education in the energy transition.
A recording of the conference is available on the YOUTUBE channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0wmfOz3x1g