Kozani

Greece

Missionsstadt Pilotstadt
Nationales Missions-Ökosystem Greece
Kozani Mission City Label
Bevölkerung 71k
Stadtfläche 87.9 km²
Stadt aktiv seit June 2022

The Municipality of Kozani (MoK), with its more than 71.000 citizens, is located in the north-west part of Greece and has been the entire Greece’s energy centre since 1955, when the huge lignite deposits were discovered and their exploitation to produce electricity has begun. For the following decades, Kozani has held a leading role in the country’s electricity scenery, producing more than 75% of the country’s total electricity.

 

This heavy production of electricity brought high development standards for the entire Region, but, as it was based on fossil fuels, this development came at a high cost, as the environmental degradation and the health problems came along, further multiplying as the lignite-based electricity production surged in the beginning of the current century.

 

However, things started changing in the last decades at global level: the Paris Agreement in 2015, signed by the vast majority of countries around the world, calls for holding the rising temperature level at “well below” two degrees Celsius to avoid an irreversible environmental degradation.

 

Greece has signed the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, in December 2015, as it has also supported the European Green Deal, approved in 2020. The EU Green Deal legislated that EU’s greenhouse gas emissions should be 55% lower in 2030 compared to 1990, with the main goal of achieving climate neutrality in 2050.

Wichtige Erkenntnisse

Design, M&E, City-Transformative Intelligence - Ioannina and Kozani ECT activity

Ioannina and Kozani are advancing their climate neutrality goals by adopting a data-driven, integrated approach to urban governance. The Metronome project responds to fragmented emissions data, siloed sectoral planning, and limited citizen engagement by developing a unified digital platform and targeted capacity-building. It equips municipalities to coordinate climate strategies across departments and communities, transforming emissions monitoring into a foundation for participatory, evidence-based decision-making and systemic innovation. Objectives Integrate geospatial and sectoral GHG and energy monitoring systems Strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration across urban systems Enable inclusive citizen participation and stakeholder engagement Build capacity for navigating regulatory and financial barriers Deliver a scalable, replicable digital platform for climate action ECT = Enabling City Transformation

Kozani's pilot activity - NEUTRON

Kozani is undergoing a major transition from decades of lignite-based energy production to a greener future. NEUTRON tackled the technical and social complexities of this shift, using digital innovation, inclusive governance, and clean technologies to develop a flexible and resilient urban heating model—positioning Kozani as a demonstrator of just and integrated energy transformation.

Accelerating Kozani’s Clean Heat Transition with Electro-Thermal Energy Storage

Kozani is at the forefront of one of Greece’s most significant energy transitions. For decades, the city’s district heating system relied on lignite fired power plants that are scheduled to be decommissioned by 2028. To maintain affordable and reliable heat while advancing toward climate neutrality, the Municipality of Kozani is exploring an innovative Green Heat Module (GHM): an electro-thermal energy storage system powered by a 12.5 MWp solar photovoltaic park. This project was supported by funding from the EU Cities Mission, provided through the City Expert Support Facility (CESF) of NetZeroCities.

City Mini Webinar #1 | 17 May 2022

Introducing the work of the following Mission Cities: Dijon Metropole - France Kozani – Greece Krakow - Poland Bologna - Italy

Kozani, Greece case studies - Intelligent Cities Challenge

The Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) is a European Commission initiative bringing together 136 cities to achieve intelligent, socially responsible and sustainable growth through advanced technologies. This resources includes case studies from Kozani, Greece related to: Expansion of renewable energy Sustainable and smart mobility

Green Heat Module

Kozani’s NEUTRON Pilot focused on developing a technological solution to support energy transition using innovative technologies and renewable energy sources. The proposed technical concept uses a Green Heat Module to enable energy storage and on-demand supply, thereby addressing the volatility of electricity supply from renewable energy sources and the market.
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Pilotprojekte
Website von Kozani besuchen Klimastadtvertrag Profil von Samsun (Zwillingsstadt)

Externe Projekte

Beteiligung der Stadt an verwandten europäischen Initiativen