Over 150 experts from 27 European countries and more than 20 different institutions and organisations participate this Tuesday and Wednesday (26/27 February) in Nicosia in the 3rd Conference related to the second phase of the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS II). The Consultation Forum provides a unique platform that can assist EU Member States’ Ministries of Defence in addressing defence-related challenges in energy management, energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy as well as in the protection of defence energy-related critical infrastructures.
Managed by the European Defence Agency (EDA), the Consultation Forum is a European Commission initiative (DG ENER) receiving funding under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 R&I programme. EDA and the European Commission will continue to work hand in hand to deliver the last steps of the Consultation Forum.
Today’s conference was opened by Mr Savvas Angelides, the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus.
In his speech, Jorge Domecq, the EDA Chief Executive, highlighted that “the extensive participation makes the Nicosia Conference the biggest one since 2015 when the project was initiated.” This, he said, reflects the continuous interest of the Ministries of Defence to apply sustainable energy models in the defence sector and to benefit from the transition to an Energy Union. “The Consultation Forum is a role model of how EDA performs simultaneously its triple mission of being the major intergovernmental prioritisation instrument at EU level in support of capability development, the preferred cooperation forum and management support structure as well as the interface with the Commission and other Agencies in accordance the Long-Term Review conclusions and recommendations endorsed by Ministers of Defence”, Mr Domecq stated. He also informed the participants that he agreed with Mr Dominique Ristori, European Commission Director-General for Energy, on the possible continuation of the Consultation Forum through a third phase with a higher budget and a longer duration.
Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, the Deputy Director-General of DG ENER, recalled the three key pieces of legislation in the Clean Energy for All Europeans package that have been recently approved: the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive, the revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) and the Energy Performance of Building Directive.
The Nicosia Conference focusses on the development of guidelines for improving overall energy management and energy efficiency of military building stock and fixed infrastructure. It also addresses energy considerations by reviewing renewable energy sources and their use in defence infrastructure and developing guidelines on the protection of defence-related critical energy infrastructure against hybrid threats. The Conference will last two days and address several topics ranging from the impact of the energy-related directives on the defence and security sector to the elaboration of defence energy-related project ideas.
Next Conference
The last of the three steps Conferences of the Consultation Forum will be hosted under the auspices of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, by the Romanian Ministry of National Defence, and will take place in Bucharest on 12 and 13 June 2019.
About the CF SEDSS II
The Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS) is a European Commission initiative managed by the EDA. It aims at bringing together experts from the defence and energy sectors to share information and best practices on improving energy management, energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy as well increasing the protection and resilience of defence energy-related critical infrastructures. On 20 October 2017, the second phase of the Consultation Forum (CF SEDSS II) was launched. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, and the agreement is between the EASME executive agency and the EDA. The contract was signed on 16 October 2017 for 22 months, expiring on August 2019.
Based on the foundations laid during the first phase of the Consultation Forum (2015-2017), the second phase has been further expanded to cover the following interrelated subjects through three main working groups (including sub-working groups): WG 1: Energy Management including Energy Efficiency (Sub-WG1: Energy Management and Sub-WG2: Energy Efficiency; WG 2: Renewable Energy Sources and Technologies; WG 3: Protection of Critical Energy Infrastructure and one cross-cutting theme: Finance.
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