Municipalities for Energy Efficiency

In the Baltic Sea Region (BSR), municipalities differ significantly regarding energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy. In some municipalities, like Bordesholm in Germany, electricity from renewable sources accounts for 80 percent of the energy mix. Municipalities located on the Polish and Latvian coastline are still at the starting point of both making best use of renewable energy sources and developing municipal energy efficiency capacity. 

German electric utility company Bordesholmer Versorgungsbetriebe, Large-scale battery storage system. Public administration of Bordesholm. Photo: ©Public administration of Bordesholm

The project enabled the exchange of knowledge and transfer of competences between the participating municipalities in order to increase energy efficiency and raise awareness on this issue. The project enabled the exchange of knowledge and transfer of competences between the participating municipalities in order to increase energy efficiency and raise awareness on this issue. To measure success, the project organised an energy saving competition between the participating institutions. In addition, the project made it clear to citizens that climate protection depends on their personal behaviour. Therefore, other key elements of the project included knowledge sharing through workshops and training sessions, as well as conferences to inform entrepreneurs, educational institutions and the general public on how to make their lifestyles more sustainable. 

Although the 60,000 inhabitants of the partner municipalities are the direct beneficiaries of the project, the results of the project are made available to other municipalities on the websites of the participating municipalities.

• Education and awareness-raising: Through educational and awareness-raising measures such as energy days in schools and energy weeks in the three municipalities, the project reached around 3,800 people, most of them young. The educational activities combined knowledge with practice: pupils experimented with renewable energy sources, took part in art competitions and energy quizzes, planted trees as “oxygen factories” and carried out simple energy audits in public and private buildings. Based on these audits, they developed recommendations for reducing energy consumption. 
• Local strategies and measures for energy efficiency and emission reduction: In the municipality of Bordesholm, an energy management plan was developed in collaboration with local utility companies, which serves as a strategic basis for the municipality's future energy policy. It creates transparency around energy consumption and supports the systematic planning of measures to increase efficiency and reduce emissions. In Ķekava (Latvia), an energy management plan was also developed as part of the project. In addition, energy audits were carried out in eight public buildings. Practical energy-saving measures have already been implemented in several of these buildings.