SIEA (SK) presented REC4EU at the Live Energy conference
The Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA), within the national project Live Energy, organized a conference on the Future of Regional Policy which took place from 20-21.6.2023 in Liptovský Mikuláš, Demänová resort.
At the event which was attended by 200 people, Stanislav Laktiš from SIEA presented the project and objectives of REC4EU where Energy communities
- can help in the transition from centralised to a decentralised energy production systems,
- make better use of renewable energy sources,
- reduce energy costs and dependence on energy imports,
- and enhance citizens' engagement in a prosumer role.
As part of the SWOT analysis, individual regulatory, economic, technical and social aspects were presented.
In the presentation, Stanislav Laktiš pointed out the benefits of Energy communities, presented good examples of practice from abroad and steps for the development of Energy communities in Slovakia. Finally, he presented the results of a survey on public perception of renewable energy sources and Energy communities.
The survey showed a high level of recognizability of RES among respondents and interest in their use. However, actual uptake is still lagging behind the level of interest. The difference between small and large sources of renewables near dwellings is also interesting. While respondents are mostly willing to have RES equipment installed on a residential or family house (77.9%), to a lesser extent they are willing to live near a renewable energy plant (38.3%). Respondents would be motivated to a higher rate of use of renewables mainly by state subsidies for equipment and lower energy prices compared to other sources.
In the area of Energy communities, there is a need for awareness-raising, as only half of the respondents were familiar with this term. On the positive side, 66% of respondents are interested in joining the Energy community of their place of residence.
The planned activities of the project were also presented, which are divided into 3 steps: namely
- an analysis of the state of European communities in partner countries,
- the next step is to identify examples of good practice that will help regional self-governments overcome the mentioned barriers and create systems,
- and the last step is to lead to positive change within the Slovakia Programme so that the communities are adequately supported.