KeepWarm was highlighted at the Heating and Energy Days 2020 (8-9 September) a key Czech event in the field of heating and power engineering. On this occasion, the District Heating Association of the Czech Republic awarded five projects of the year 2019 with crystal chimneys. One of the projects awarded was one of KeepWarm's own pilot projects: a heat distribution modernisation, replacement of steam for hot water pipelines, in Brno.

On the occasion, representatives of the KeepWarm project also organized an Inspire event as part of the conference, where they informed about the investment activities of the participating district heating plants and also about cooperation with partners from Croatia and Ukraine. National project partner TSCR offered support to district heating systems in decision-making and implementation of modernization projects in the field of heating and cooling.

The District Heating Association, the organizer of the event, set seven main topics for this year: transformation of the heating industry by 2030, use of biomass in the heating industry, technology in the heating industry, application of heating plants in the electricity market, waste to energy technology, economics and legislation in the heating industry and customer care.

„We lost our fight for coal,“ said Tomáš Drápela, chairman of the executive board of the District Heating Association of the Czech Republic, at the opening of the Heating and Energy Days 2020 conference. New space for gas, biomass and waste is coming. However, the Minister of Industry and Trade, Karel Havlíček, immediately threw a lifeline to the Czech heating industry from his office via a telecommunication, emphasizing that he considers the transformation of the heating industry to be the number one energy priority because it is a question of the coming months or years.

There is no doubt that greening is the right idea and needs to be continued. However, it is essential that greening instruments are applied with respect to individual countries. „It's about a reasonable reduction in coal,“ the minister stressed. „Emission allowances are an almost overwhelming tool. We can defend ourselves politically, economically, but if the price of allowances rises and their quantity decreases, it is a huge pressure. „ The transformation must be carried out as soon as possible and support is ready, minister Havlíček assured the guests several times. The modernization fund and the renewal fund are resources where energy professionals should find enough funding for the transition from coal.