Second General Assembly and visit in Konin 2025

In this newspiece we share our short report on the Partners’ meeting and Replication Valley visit in Konin which took place between 8th and 9th of May 2025.

The REFORMERS project continues to drive innovation in renewable energy, bringing together experts, policymakers, and stakeholders to shape the future of sustainable energy valleys. Our recent gathering in Poland showcased groundbreaking initiatives, fostering collaboration and accelerating the transition to resilient, self-sufficient energy systems. Over three days, participants engaged in insightful discussions, shared best practices, and explored new strategies to enhance energy security and sustainability across Europe.

Day one

The first day of meeting started with the “Words of Welcome” by the Mayor of Konin Piotr Korytkowski followed by a presentation by Katarzyna Rejniak (Head of Strategic Management Department- Project Manager
Reformers Konin) on the Energy transition in the city of Konin. Maciej Dąbrowski, Coordinator of the Energy Cluster , Green Energy – Technical Advisor Reformers Konin, closed the opening session with a presentation of the Energy Valley assumptions based on the target report.

Professor Thierry Coosemans from the Vrije Unuiversiteit Brussel, as project coordinator, initiated the Assembly with an overview of the current project phase and lessons learnt from the first periodic report. Stella Arapoglou added a few remarks on project management. The rest of the day was dedicated to updates from each Work Package leader and task leaders, especially focusing on challenges, risks, mitigations and plans for the next six to twelwe months.

The new partner Goiener was officially welcomed by the whole team and the decision to plan the next General Assembly in the Austrian Replication Valley in Murau was also taken.

After closing remarks the whole group moved outdoor to jump on a hydrogen-fuelled bus, which allowed for an “energy-transition” bus-tour in Konin organised by the Konin Municipality. The team visited: the Water and Sewage Company, the Municipal Thermal Power Plant and the Waste Management Plant.

All three, among others, are members of the Regional Association called “Agglomeration Konin – Aglomeracja Koninska”, promoting the energy transition in the region in coordination with the local and regional institutions and protecting the community and societal welfare while moving away from coal mining.

Below are some statements from people involved in the project, shared during the General Assembly:

The City of Konin is a post-industrial city undergoing energy, economic and social transformation. We are moving away from lignite coal and into Renewable Energy Sources
Konin is a leader of the Wielkopolska Energy Valley and a member of the Wielkopolska Hydrogen Platform.
Participation in the REFORMERS project is a tremendous opportunity for the City of Konin to develop advanced technologies for obtaining and managing renewable energy using innovative solutions implemented by leaders in the energy transition in Europe.
The City of Konin is already contributing a number of interesting resources to the project in the form of: independent sources of renewable energy – cogeneration, photovoltaics, heat from geothermal waters and the use of hydrogen in public transport.

Piotr Korytkowski – President of the City of Konin

The City of Konin has been implementing the vision of Konin – Green City of Energy, as defined in the City Development Strategy, since 2020. We are jointly implementing the New Development Path, which operates on three pillars: Energy of People, Green Energy and Green in the City.
One example of the Strategy’s implementation is the implementation, as a partner since November twenty-three, of the REFORMERS research project, which is to start implementing so-called “Renewable Energy Valleys” aimed at increasing energy security, achieving energy self-reliance and accelerating the green transformation in Europe.
We also want the City and the surrounding area to become such a Renewable Energy Valley, which will use energy and heat from renewable energy sources. And their consumers will be residents, businesses, government offices and housing cooperatives.

Katarzyna Rejniak – head of the Strategic Management Department of the Konin Municipal Office and coordinator of the REFORMERS project in Konin

On a daily basis I work at the Municipal Waste Management Plant in Konin, which is a member of the energy cluster “Green Energy Konin”.
Participation in the project is to diversify the sources of renewable energy in the city of Konin and maximize efficiency, leading to increased production of green energy, combining technological solutions with the most innovative energy management systems.
Therefore, the main innovation implemented under the project is the development of the concept of an Integrated Information System on energy production and consumption in the area of the city of Konin within the framework of the activity of the Energy Cluster – Green Energy Konin”.

Maciej Dabrowski – coordinator of the Energy Cluster “Green Energy Konin” and member of the REFORMERS project team

The implementation of the REFORMERS project is a great opportunity for the City of Konin to become a leader in energy transformation in the Wielkopolska Energy Valley by developing common solutions.
The result of the project will be the transformation of Local Energy Systems (LES) into Renewable Energy Valleys (REV), in which local renewable energy sources fully cover the annual demand for electricity, heating, cooling and transportation.
The project is a forward-looking measure affecting environmental protection, which can benefit other local governments but also residents, businesses and NGOs.

Magdalena Michnicka – Chief Specialist, Strategic Management Department of the Konin Municipal Office

Day two

On the second day of meeting, as first step, all tools were presented and explained (except the environmental tool) during a Replication valley workshop organised by Nicolas Pardo Garcìa from AIT as WP6 leader, igniting many discussions and comments, all noted down and further discussed in afternoon parallel sessions. The Data taskforce coordinated by Bart Kaas from TNO, with relevant input from all involved partenrs, picked up the work previously done: with the data mapping completed it is now ready to proceed with set up of a safe and reliable “data lake”. As last plenary activity, Rebecca Hueting by Deep Blue Deep Blue organized an interactive workshop to analyze project KERs.

Here below the list of the four afternoon parallel sessions:

Residential approach Heiloo	Harm Hoffman (Duurzaam Heiloo)
Teleport installment & impact assessment	Robin Jastrzebski (WTG), Wouter Parys (VUB)
Control and optimization	Robin Hermes (Repowered), Alliander, ENTRANCE
Implementation and progress at InVesta	Andries van der Horst Jansen (Investa)