EU projects
EAZK nowadays is realizing two projects:
ENERGIZE+
Despite being the cornerstone of Europe's economy, the industrial sector is responsible for a vast amount of CO2 emissions. To align with the Net Zero Emissions (NZE) by 2050 Scenario, Energy Communities have emerged as a promising solution, although they remain uncommon in industrial areas. In this context, the ENERGIZE+ project seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of cooperative energy models in selected EU industrial zones (Manresa, Catalonia; Valesia Region, Italy; Zlín Region, Czech Republic; Upper Austria) by fostering energy collaboration. With a focus on significant Carbon reduction, thanks to its pilots and compelling KPIs in terms of company participation, training and skills development, energy savings, renewable energy generation, GHG emissions reduction, job creation, as well as its impacts for policy making and stakeholder outreach, the project aims to inspire global adoption of sustainable industrial energy practices. It is noteworthy that already ENERGIZE+ has secured the support of over 20 industry players and associations, Industrial Parks, Councils, among others. The ENERGIZE+ project, which has been designed by a leading multidisciplinary team of researchers, regional and EU level agencies and expert companies from the energy sector, stands as a pioneering initiative to tackle the challenges experienced by the industrial sector, demonstrating the feasibility of creating Industrial Renewable Energy Communities using cooperative energy models. In order to ensure access to and replicability of the projects outputs, the training and capacity building tools developed in the project will be digitized and made available through a community-based Digital Hub for professionals interested in energy communities and collaborative energy models, who will benefit from an acceleration programme that will have been tested and validated in our 4 pilot industrial zones, the KPIs from which will be tracked and widely disseminated.
ECOEMPOWER
The main idea of ECOEMPOWER is to support regional authorities in their role of energy community facilitators through the creation of a One Stop Shop (OSS): (I) It is a physical and virtual place where citizens and stakeholders can receive information and assistance through a set of integrated services and digital tools for the set up of energy communities, not only technological support, but also economic, financial, legal, organizational, communicational and educational; (II) It aims at raising citizens’ awareness about potentials and benefits of collective energy initiatives; (III) In the emergence/pre-development phases, it assists citizens and stakeholders involved in the energy communities in analyzing the underlying motivations and expectations, in establishing the project technical, legal, economical and social feasibility and viability, and in providing information about funding opportunities; (IV) During the creation/operation phases it provides assistance in implementing a detailed business model, supports capacity building and guarantees multi sectoral assistance; (V) It will be a networking point between energy communities (including colearning opportunities) public authorities (from the municipal up to the regional scale), and, when required, technology and financial providers (e.g. RES manufacturers and installers, energy aggregators, ESCOs, DSOs); (VI) It may also act as aggregator of small sustainable energy projects. ECOEMPOWER’ s activities will be developed and tested with the active participation of 5 regional authorities and lead to the creation of 5 regional OSSs and 15 local energy communities. ECOEMPOWER brings together 10 highprofile partners from 6 European countries (IT, FR, DE, CZ, GR, BE), forming a balanced team of complementary institutions including 5 public bodies/associations, 3 research centres and 2 private companies. Finally, other 45 key stakeholders in the 15 pilot sites have already provided Letters of Support.