"Monaco has everything it takes to play a key role in the global energy transition"

The journal “Transitions & Energies” has just published a special issue entitled “Monaco, laboratoire de la transition énergétique” (Monaco, a laboratory for energy transition). We spoke with the director of the publication Gil Mihaely about the energy transition in the Principality.

Why is Transitions & Énergies interested in Monaco?

The magazine that I founded with Éric Léser three years ago is based on an observation: we will not save our planet by creating multiple economic, social and political crises. We are therefore calling for an energy transition that is compatible with growth, the market economy and democracy.

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This is why Monaco caught our attention very early on, because in this country the profound and global transition that is the energy transition is being carried out with the participation and support of the different stakeholders: individuals (citizens, residents, border residents), companies and non-profits.

Public players, such as the Mission for Energy Transition or the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, as well as other structures – notably regulatory and financial ones – are guiding the general movement, setting objectives and making resources available. And of course, there is this special relationship with the sea which is reflected both in thalassothermal energy – a technology in which Monaco is a pioneer and world leader – and in the special interest shown – in particular by the Yacht Club of Monaco – in new ways of powering boats. This rare and precious experience deserves to be recognised well beyond the Principality’s borders.

In short, Monaco is 2km2 of pure innovation: social, economic, technological and political (in the noblest sense of the term). It is a real case study, and a test bed for learning how to successfully carry out this vital and extremely complicated transformation, from which nobody in the world will be spared…

Who is this issue aimed at?

The entire energy transition community! Everyone is trying to understand how the introduction of technologies, regulations and measures are, first of all, perceived by all of the users concerned. Then, to what extent they have an impact on behaviour and above all on the performance of a community in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and, more broadly, preserving the ecosystems without which our species will struggle to survive. This is why the energy transition pact that the Prince’s Government has initiated, deals not only with mobility and heating but also disposable wipes …

This huge open-air Monegasque laboratory is therefore of interest to those involved in the production of green and low-carbon energy (solar, geothermal, thalassothermal), players in the mobility sector (cars, electric bikes and motorbikes, but also battery producers and operators of recharging stations), and stakeholders in the building sector (all existing buildings – residential, professional, public, tourist hotels – should be made energy-efficient or even net contributors). And then of course all those who would have to finance these huge projects, audit them…

Also, governments, local authorities and non-profits who are working towards the energy transition are very keen to learn from the Monegasque experience. Monaco has everything it takes to play a key role in the global energy transition by setting an example and bringing together all the stakeholders to exchange experiences and practices and even launch pilot projects before applying them on a larger scale.

What can we learn from reading this issue?

The first thing, for non-Monegasques, is quite simply to learn that Monaco is already a major player in the energy transition and that henceforth it is in their interests to follow what is happening in the Principality closely. We hope that little by little Monaco will be associated in people’s minds with the subject of energy transition.

More specifically, we can get an idea of Monaco’s ambitions, projects and achievements in the field. Above all, we can get to know the Monegasque institutional players (who does what) and understand how things really work in practice. It is obviously only an appetiser, but we hope that this initiative will that this initiative will pique the curiosity of all those involved in the energy transition.

The special issue of Transitions & Énergies is available on news stands and on line.