On July 3-4, 2024 an Energy conference was held in Gabrovo, organized by the Center for Energy Efficiency EnEffect, Municipal Network EcoEnergy, Green Synergy Cluster and a number of organizations working in the field of energy and with the courtesy of the Municipality of Gabrovo.
The central theme of the conference was the Integrated National Plan in the field of energy and climate (INPEC) and the role of local municipal institutions and non-governmental organizations. Representatives of the local government, such as Deputy Minister of Energy Krasimir Nenov, Mayor of Gabrovo Tanya Hristova and other representatives of municipalities, as well as a number of experts from the field of energy – from SOFENA, Black Sea Energy Cluster, Energy Center Sofia and various European projects – participated.
The topics of energy communities, energy poverty, green transition, energy efficiency and others were discussed, where Green Synergy Cluster presented two presentations on the topics of energy communities and energy poverty.
- “Good practices for energy communities in Europe – the experience gathered from the SunSharing project”, where Alexandra Vladimirova presented the conceptual framework of the EUKI-funded SunSharing project, which focuses on energy communities and crowdfunding initiatives in South-Eastern Europe.
2 examples of good practice for energy communities were presented – Alcolea del Rio from Spain – an energy community founded in 2016 with around 1300 members and a PV installation capacity of 2160 kW. The cooperative functions as the members grant loans at 0% interest to the NGO managing the community, and in return they are supplied with KWh at cost, in the model of collective self-consumption. They can buy shares that match their household consumption. Despite the lack of subsidies or feed-in premiums for RES generation in Spain at the time of its creation, the cooperative decided to start the initiative due to the environmental and social value of the project.
The community format is convenient and has a good potential for replication, since the coordinator of this project effort is an experienced NGO – Som Energia – which takes care of the organizational activities so that citizens without any competencies can participate in a community project, providing many have access to green electricity for the first time.
The second example comes from Slovenia – Zelen Hrastnik Energy Cooperative – This energy community was founded in 2022 and has 22 members – 16 households, a micro-firm, two business associations, the municipality and two municipal institutes (swimming pool and primary school). All of them are the owners of the solar installation located on the roof of municipal buildings. and at the same time – consumers. The project emphasizes self-consumption goals among community members by planning to power them with the energy produced by the solar panels. This initiative demonstrates a community-led approach to renewable energy, emphasizing collaboration and local engagement.
Both examples highlight the role of municipalities and non-governmental organizations in supporting and encouraging civic initiatives. Most municipalities in Bulgaria are lagging behind the targets set in their plans for RES at the local level – energy communities can be the solution to this problem. While individual citizens may not have the necessary experience or knowledge to undertake energy community organizing, these institutions and organizations can act as their engine.