Newsroom

The National Conference on Energy Communities in Bulgaria highlighted the pivotal role of citizen energy projects in the energy transition.

Mainly mayors and representatives of small Hungarian villages joined the three-day study tour, which gave participants an insight into the work of Austrian energy communities.

A delegation of public officials from Cyprus and energy community experts from Austria (AEA, SHAREs coordinator) and Germany (DGRV) met for a two-day study visit hosted by the Lake Constance Foundation in South Germany and organised by the Policy Learning Platform.

The Freistadt Energy Symposium organised by the OurPower energy cooperative and the pioneer Energiebezirk Freistadt (EBF) took place in Freistadt as part of the SHAREs project.

On 14 March 2024, the Green Synergy Cluster hosted a conference in Plovdiv as part of the SunSharing project funded by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI). The event highlighted the progress of energy communities powered by solar photovoltaic technology and crowdfunding efforts across the Southeast European landscape.

Martina Krenn (AEA) presented the SHAREs decision matrix in Session E5 “Energy communities I” of the 18^th symposium for energy innovation 2024.

Representatives of AYPEG participated in the Call for Investor Briefings for Advancing Renewable Energy Investments to facilitate dialogue on technical issues of the second auction of renewable energy capacity (Power) organised by USAID Securing Georgia's Energy Future Program.

The OurPower Office Opening emphasised the importance of the expansion of renewable energies for a sustainable energy supply for society.

The information session and training on the European City Facility Mechanism aimed to inform municipal administration officials and consultants about the sixth call for applications under the EUCF.

The webinars had educational purposes, aimed at acquainting the public with the concept of energy communities by exploring various aspects of the topic.

The DGRV was invited to the Hungarian parliament for the Hungarian national event on energy communities.

Our SHAREs colleague Ágnes Szalkai-Lőrincz (MTVSZ) spoke in a podcast episode about energy communities in general – how they could look, who can be a member, what the aim or goal of it is, what MTVSZ is doing regarding the education of the consumers...

In the framework of the 5th project meeting organized in Hungary, consortium partners visited the pilot settlement of Kajárpéc.

Gregor Thenius (AEA) presented the Austrian SHAREs Gateway and its communication campaign in the webinar directed at municipalities presenting best practices for climate & energy themed events.

The conference presented the goals and objectives of the SHAREs project in Georgia, as well as the experiences and challenges of establishing energy communities in Georgia and EU countries.

The video podcast by the “Solar Academy Bulgaria” Association dedicated an entire episode to key topics in citizen energy, the role of energy communities, successful project practices in Austria and Germany, and challenges in developing similar initiatives in Bulgaria.

Within the framework of the closing event of the Horizon 2020 project "CLEAR-X - Consumers Leading the EU's Energy Ambition Response, Expansion", organized by Bulgarian National Association "Active Users", a public discussion addressing the opportunities and challenges for Bulgarian households in investing in RES and energy-efficient technologies took place.

Angela Holzmann (AEA) presented the SHAREs project with a focus on the blueprint in the framework of the Regional Workshop of EU4Energy on Bringing self-consumption Regulation of EaP Countries in Line with European Union and Energy Community Requirements.

Kerstin Schilcher (AEA) was at the conference, BEHAVE 2023, in Maastricht, presenting SHAREs to a large audience of experts on user behaviour from all over Europe.

The renowned Bulgarian newspaper "Capital" under its monthly video podcast series "Capital Green" which focuses on sustainable business, clean energy, green policies, and climate change, recently delved into the implementation of local energy communities.

The goal of the ConnectHeat project is to support the development of energy communities/citizen initiatives in the heating and cooling sector, focusing on the pilot project at the Faculty of Mining, Geology, and Petroleum Engineering and its surroundings.

Csaba Lajtmann, a representative of Reflex, attended the Climate Alliance International Conference in Modena.

Around 6,500 visitors came to Austria's largest sustainability fair at the Design Center Linz from 13 to 15 October. There were 180 exhibitors from the fields of fair fashion, organic food and eco-lifestyle to discover, as well as numerous ideas for extending the lifespan of products.

The Austrian Energy Agency (AEA) and the German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV) invited 34 participants from municipalities and civil society from six countries to Germany and Austria in October.

The C2 Adult Training in Zagreb provided a unique opportunity for collaboration and knowledge exchange on energy and sustainability initiatives.

The past few years have been marked by a series of severe crises, which have left certain population groups particularly at risk. With that in mind, we discussed measures to promote renewable energies and fight energy poverty at the conference and examined what role energy communities can play in this context.

In der Konferenz diskutierten wir über Maßnahmen zur Förderung erneuerbarer Energien als auch zur Bekämpfung von Energiearmut und welche Rolle Energiegemeinschaften hier einnehmen können. Franz Angerer, Geschäftsführer der Österreichischen Energieagentur, machte mit seinem Vortrag den Auftakt.

Insbesondere vulnerable Bevölkerungsgruppen stehen in krisengeprägten Zeiten vor großen Herausforderungen. Um dem entgegenzuwirken, braucht es gezielte Anstrengungen. Diese Veranstaltung behandelt sektorübergreifende Lösungen, welche sowohl energiebezogene als auch soziale Aspekte beinhalten.

In September 2023, B&SU organised an Infoday on the topic of renewable energy citizen communities and their role in the energy transition in Germany.

In the framework of Austrian Energy Partnerships AEA, BSERC and SEDA exchanged ideas on the implementation of energy communities in Austria and Bulgaria. Mariya Trifonova explained how the SHAREs project supports collective actions in Bulgaria. Ivaylo Aleksiev (SEDA) provided insights into the current status of Bulgarian legal framework on energy communities.  

The EU PVSEC is the largest international Conference for Photovoltaic research, technologies and applications and at the same time a PV Industry Exhibition, where specialized PV Industry presents technologies, innovations and new concepts in the upstream PV sector.

OurPower was invited by Urban Innovation Vienna to present at the study tour of the EU project LifeLoop.

Under the motto "ActLocallyChangeGlobally", researchers from various economic and social science disciplines as well as representatives from practice and politics gathered at the Transdisciplinary Forum at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences in the run-up to the 9th International EMES Research Conference to discuss groundbreaking topics such as crisis resilience and adaptability in the social and solidarity economy.

Our colleagues, Angela Holzmann and Marcel Schweitzer (AEA), held a webinar on energy communities in the framework of AEA's Crash Course on Energy & Climate for journalists.

The results of the intensive work on the SHAREs project over the past year were presented within the framework of the fourth panel, which was dedicated to the ongoing projects in Bulgaria related to energy communities. The audience was introduced to the basic concepts and objectives of SHAREs and the progress reached to this stage. In addition, the content of each section of the Bulgarian Gateway was observed and feedback from the experts was collected.

Our colleague, Kerstin Schilcher (AEA), presented SHAREs activities in a session of the yearly klimaaktiv conference.

EUBCE is the largest biomass conference and exhibition in the world. Each year, EUBCE brings together the brightest minds and latest advances in biomass to accelerate research and market adoption around the world.

The event was about engaging OurPower's community of consumers, producers, members and interested people. During the discussion part of the event, the present and future of sustainable energy consumption was disucced by our experts in all its facets.

EDA, the platform for energy data exchange in Austria, provided insights into its role exchanging energy data between Austrian market participants (electricity, gas, distribution, transmission). SHAREs partners took the opportunity to learn how to set up data exchange for energy communities.

A conference on the topic of energy communities was held on May 4^th  2023 in the European Parliament, which was hosted by the MEP Romana Jerković and supported by the Northwest Croatia Regional Energy and Climate Agency (REGEA) and European Federation of Agencies and Regions for Energy and Environment (FEDARENE).

The fourth consortium meeting was hosted by AYPEG in Tbilisi, Georgia. The team members advanced plans regarding the mentoring scheme, the further progress of the national Gateways & updated each other on the development of the pilots.

​​The SHAREs project was briefly presented at the annual full meeting of EnR (European Energy Network) and the possibility of adopting the blueprint for other European countries was discussed. 

​The annual full meeting took place to review the past year and the Portuguese presidency by ADENE.​ 

The SHARES consortium met with the Austrian Coordination Office for Energy Communities.

Angela, our project lead, presented the Austrian Gateway in the national energy community conference organized by the coordination office for energy communities in Austria.

Mariya Trifonova participated in the online discussion expressing her opinion on innovative solutions and policy recommendations to promote various forms of energy citizenship based on her work in SHAREs project. 

​​The 13th International Energy Economics Conference at the Vienna University of Technology (IEWT 2023) addressed the recent disruptions of the European energy system. SHAREs project members Angela Holzmann and Marcel Schweitzer (AEA) demonstrated the impact of the energy crisis on energy communities & collective actions in Europe via poster presentation.

Mariya Trifonova (BSERC) participated in the working group on energy communities, which aimed to collect ideas on different issues associated with the crossroads Bulgaria is at in the energy transition. Its successful implementation depends on whether the country will be among the leaders in sustainable development and an innovative economy or at the bottom of the charts.

The Austrian Biomass Association, the Styrian Chamber of Agriculture and BEST - Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies GmbH in cooperation with Messe Graz organize the 7th Central European Biomass Conference CEBC2023 from 18-20 January 2023.

This event aimed to develop support programmes and schemes for energy-poor citizens and encourage the use of alternative financing schemes to tackle energy poverty.

​​​​The XVII National Conference of ABEA was a two-day event during which experts and interested parties from the public and private sector discussed the topic "Energy efficiency and RES - the challenges of the energy transition and energy poverty". It was held on 29th and 30th of November 2022 physically in Sofia, as well as online via Zoom. The conference was structured in four panels.

​​The European Energy Network presented a study on Energy Agencies and Renewable Energy Communities. In the following panels, EnR Energy Agencies, shared their experience in promoting Renewable Energy Communities and several organizations brought evidence from the ground with examples from different sectors and geographies. The AEA presented the SHAREs project.​ 

The third consortium meeting was hosted by the Austrian Energy Agency in the heart of Vienna. The project team met to discuss the advancement of the pilots in the partner countries (AT, DE, HU, HR, BG, GE), plan the mentoring scheme and to improve the Gateway.

​​The Regional Investment Roundtable was organized as part of the activities under the Horizon 2020 project FinEERGo-Dom. The aim of the project is to refine and implement guaranteed financing schemes for renewable energy and energy efficiency in deep renovations of buildings.  

Almost 40 experts presented the latest information and developments in the field of energy, whether from the point of view of the producer, regulator, state authority, or energy consumer.

Austrian renewable energy communities (REC) met up to discuss current challenges and possible solutions, especially regarding the current energy crisis.

​​​8th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion ​- the world’s largest specialised PV Solar Energy Conference - serves as leading platform for the collection, exchange and dissemination of scientific know-how and is renowned for the high standard of its scientific contributions. ​WIP introduced the SHAREs project as a poster presentation.

Stakeholders from Austria and the Czech Republic met in Vienna, Austria in May 2022 to discuss the status of and lessons learned regarding renewable energy communities (RECs).

The second consortium meeting was already a highlight alone due to it being the first SHAREs partners gathering to take place face-to-face. This two-daylong meeting took place in Zagrab, Croatia and was attended by 16 members of the partner countries (AT, DE, HU, HR, BG, GE).

The aim of the 2nd meeting with the SHAREs pioneer circle was to incorporate pioneers’ experience and learnings towards the development of the Gateway in an early stage.

During the online conference, over 2,000 experts from both academia and industry shared and discussed ground-breaking ideas, technologies, applications, and solutions for the sourcing, production, and utility of biomass. WIP introduced the SHAREs project and provided information on the first results. ​ 

The SHAREs project had an exciting and fruitful kick-off meeting with the Pioneer Circle. The Pioneers introduced themselves, showing an impressive range of activities. The Pioneer Circle will be able to give important impulses to the project.

The kick-off event of the SHAREs project with the German pilot communities Rheda-Wiedenbrück, District Gießen and Göttingen was conducted online on February 21st 2022. A major contribution to the event was given by the local heroes of the pilot municipalities, who presented their current work in the field of climate protection.

The German Virtual Federal Congress „Energy Transition and Cooperatives 2022“ took place on 25th January 2022. The event was organised by our partner DGRV in cooperation with other organisations. A video recording of the event is provided here.

On December 2^nd 2021 the SHAREs project was presented to Austrian stakeholders. A webinar held by the Austrian climate protection initiative klimaaktiv gave a profound overview on the Austrian situation regarding energy communities.

We are excited to announce that we finally kicked off the Horizon 2020 project SHAREs. The project aims at supporting local heroes in establishing their energy community and enable them to motivate and target consumers directly.

On September 24^th 2021, SHAREs coordinators met with the three partner projects SCCALE 20-30-50, POWER-UP and CEES. The aim was to share ideas and findings, use synergies between the projects, and update each other on upcoming activities.