Sofia

Founded seven thousand years ago, Sofia is the second oldest city in Europe, occupying a strategic position at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.

Nowadays Sofia is a fast growing city with a population of above 1.3 million people. The Municipality includes 24 administrative and territorial districts and 34 mayor-led councils. As an administrative and political centre, the capital of Bulgaria hosts many of the major universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies. The strategic location, the developed infrastructure and the highly qualified work labor are some of the motivating factors for investing in the city.

Sofia Municipality is a member of the Covenant of Mayors initiative since 2011.

Sofia Energy Agency - SOFENA is established in 2001 to assists Sofia Municipality in developing a sustainable energy policy. SOFENA is the author of the Sustainable Energy Action Plan of Sofia Municipality and is a member in the Sofia Advisory Council for Sustainable Energy Development and the Management Committee to the Mayor of the Municipality.

SOFENA is a non-governmental organisation and non-profit legal entity working for public benefit.  The Agency provides assessments of energy consumption and of the potential of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. It works for promotion of the holistic approach for energy efficient renovation and construction of new buildings, implementation of energy management and monitoring systems in buildings and enterprises, training and promotion of energy efficient measures and renewable energy sources. SOFENA has experience in energy auditing and analysis of the building stock, as well as ICT for energy management and monitoring.

The Agency provides trainings and initiates local sustainable energy fora, info days, discussions of the interested stakeholders. It organizes campaigns for citizens to influence their behaviour and inform them about energy saving practices.

SOFENA develops energy efficiency projects in municipal, residential, industrial and office buildings. It has more than 10 years of experience as a lead partner of national projects and has successfully participated as a Partner in more than 15 international projects under SAVE II, ALTENER, Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) and Transnational Cooperation for the South East Europe programmes.