On World Energy Efficiency Day celebrated in March 5, Sergio del Campo, Chile’s Energy Deputy Secretary, and William Phillips, former Executive Director of the Chilean Energy Efficiency Agency (AChEE), presented the Agency’s 2014 project portfolio and encouraged various organizations to engage in the activities related to energy efficiency. CONUEE representatives Francisco Salazar Neumann and Juventino Hebert León Sánchez attended the program launching and met with Chilean officials to discuss the potential for future technical exchanges under the umbrella of the Energy Efficiency Working Group. The Department of Sustainable Development of the Organization of American States coordinated the visit with both government agencies.

AChEE’s presented its programmatic offers which include 37 bids and 14 credit lines for developing construction, industry and mining, transport, education and training and metrology and verification projects. These opportunities were made available to private sector institutions, academia, and consultants among other stakeholders. In addition, the visit allowed a dialogue among CONUEE and AChEE representatives regarding the themes to be addressed at the upcoming technical visit.

An upcoming technical cooperation mission between CONUEE and AChEE is scheduled to take place in Chile in mid-2014. AChEE will share its experiences in the implementation of the ISO 50001 for Energy management systems, while CONUEE’s will share its expertise in the development of energy efficiency indicators and technical training on efficient driving. The Department of Sustainable Development is working closely with CONUEE to advance this and other models of bilateral and multilateral collaboration on energy efficiency under the umbrella of the ECPA Energy Efficiency Working Group.