Energy Agency of Plovdiv
is among the members of
the Energy Community
Gabrovo
Press Release
On
January 15, the municipality of Gabrovo announced the setting-up of the first energy
community (EC) in Bulgaria, and on March 15, the first official meeting of
the members of EC Gabrovo - Regional Non-Hazardous Waste Landfill was held.
Photos: EnEffect
A
total of 73 participants were recruited: 31 from Gabrovo and the region, and
the rest from other country regions. Among the members of EC Gabrovo is the
Energy Agency of Plovdiv.
All
affiliated members of the Energy Community Gabrovo
are united by the idea of being part of an innovative green approach based on
RES technologies to provide clean energy. 175 solar panels have been installed
on the roof of the Regional Non-Hazardous Waste Landfill Gabrovo. The greater part of the generated energy will
supply the needs of the Landfill itself, and the rest will be used for other
municipal facilities. The total installed capacity of the PV plant will be
99.55 kWp.
Photo: EnEffect
By the end of
April, the installation will be connected to the local energy distribution
company.
The Energy
Agency of Plovdiv is committed to the topic of energy communities not only on
the occasion of its membership in the EC Gabrovo - Regional landfill for
non-hazardous waste.
From October 2022,
the agency is a part of the international project ConnectHeat. The aim of the initiative is to pave the way for energy
communities in the heating and cooling sector, as well as to accelerate the
process of decarbonization of the building stock.
In
essence, the energy community concept is related to the active engagement of
citizens, municipalities and small businesses in it. As decentralized and
renewable energy-based projects, the energy communities urge forward sustainable energy production
and consumption practices. At the same time, they can also play a key role for
the application of social innovations, as they reflect a fundamental change in
consumer behavior. The traditionally passive consumer becomes an energy
producer, co-owner of renewable energy facilities and an energy participant in
the community. In Europe, there are around 3,500 so-called renewable energy
cooperatives – a type of energy community that is mostly found in Northwestern
Europe (REScoop MECISE, 2019). Although energy
communities have existed for decades in countries in Western Europe, the
concept is relatively new both for Bulgaria and for countries in the region.
Through its activities, the Energy
Agency of Plovdiv assists in the cooperation between local authorities and
citizens for the implementation of projects for energy communities. The MultiHome one-stop shop for EE, RES,
energy poverty and energy communities is focused on raising awareness of the
benefits of being involved in such environmental initiatives. The agency also
carries out pre-project technical, legal and financial studies for the creation
of energy communities for heating. These could be, for example, current and
future condominium associations that build collective heating building
installations producing thermal energy from renewable energy sources. Heating
installations built in this way and based on renewable energy will have almost
zero energy consumption and correspondingly energy costs, and the owners will
only have to agree on the maintenance
of the heating systems, which are minimal in terms of costs.
Source: Energy Agency of Plovdiv