A Thrilling Study Tour on Renewable Energy Communities in Austria
An inspiring study tour was conducted in early April as part of the COMMENCE project. Bringing together experts from Slovakia, Czechia, Poland, and Hungary, this tour offered a fantastic opportunity to learn about the development and challenges of Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) in Austria. This study tour complemented the findings and other activities conducted in the COMMENCE project, which is aimed at increasing awareness, fostering cooperation, and supporting development of the energy communities in the V4 region.
“Exchange of experience among the representatives of the V4 Member States as well as with Austrian partners has brought an unique added value to the project and provided our energy communities with the good practices which we hope they will be able, with our support, to implement to their day-to-day operations,” Boris Valach from SAPI and Krzysztof Fal from WiseEuropa agreed.
A Glimpse into the Current Situation
The tour began with the official opening of Christian Furtwängler, Head of Center Economy, Consumers & Prices at Austrian Energy Agency, followed by a short introduction of the EUKI funding instrument, with the first block concluded by the presentation of the COMMENCE project led by Boris Valach, a Project Manager from SAPI – Slovak Association of Sustainable Energy. Then, country-specific presentations followed, where participants shared the status of energy communities in their respective countries. These presentations focused on the legal frameworks and challenges in establishing such initiatives in Slovakia, Czechia, Poland, and Hungary. The following experience sharing presentations of the Austrian initiatives aimed at aiding the local communities in taking advantage from the share renewable resources such as Urban Innovation Vienna or Robin Powerhood.
A Visit to an Innovative Energy Provider
In the afternoon, the group visited the innovative energy provider Beyond Carbon, which supplies an entire district with emission-free heating and cooling through creative energy solutions. After the presentation, vital discussion took place where the participants had the unique opportunity to ask questions to the founder of the company as well as to share their experience in terms of H&C supplies.
Practical Examples from the Region
On the second day, participants visited two inspiring energy communities of the Elsbeere Wienerwald and Göttweigblick Energy Community, where they had an unique opportunity to discover the operational models and to discuss the opportunities & challenges being faced by these communities at the beginning as well as during their development.
Building brighter future for the energy communities in the V4
The study visit helps representative of the V4 countries to better understand the opportunities, options for development of energy communities in these countries. This experience has supplemented the knowledge-sharing experience brought by the COMMENCE project though the national guidelines for energy community founders and a series of national workshops dedicated to the local communities, energy sector and other stakeholders.
Now, the COMMENCE team is entering the phase of its outreach actions aimed at sharing the findings of project across the national decision-makers and through these actions, to ensure better understanding of the role of energy communities in energy transition in the CEE region.