The summer school kicked off on August 20 at a dinner held at the Estonian Open-Air Museum, where the participants were also introduced to a bit of Estonian history and traditions.

During opening session, TalTech professor Anna Volkova from Department of Energy Technology, Prof. Hendrik Voll, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Prof. Alar Konist, Director of Department of Energy Technology and Robert Kitt, CEO of Utilitas, warmly welcomed the summer school participants. The topic of the summer school this year was "Integration of energy systems: the role of district heating and cooling", and in the lectures and workshops the participants could acquire deeper knowledge about energy storage, electrification, digitalization and district cooling. In addition, they could learn to use new district heating software and hear the experiences and practices of Estonia's leading energy companies moving towards climate neutrality. In Estonia, the district heating sector is well developed, and our success stories were presented to the participants by researchers from Tallinn University of Technology, Estonian Power and Heat Association, Estonian Heat Pump Association and the companies Utilitas and Adven. In addition to lectures, there were technical site visits, such as Utilitas Mustamäe combined heat and power plant, Adven control center, Utilitas Ülemiste district cooling station and cooling substation were seen. The entire training week ends with an interactive energy system game, RewardHEAT, where participants can play heat and power production and see the market from the perspective of the government, producer and consumer.

The researchers of the Department of Energy Technology of Tallinn University of Technology are happy to host such high-level events, and we would like to thank our sponsors, thanks to whom it all became possible: Utilitas Tallinn, Energex Energy Experts, Gren, Enerhack