Category: News (EN)

On 20th of November 2020, the second meeting of the Local Working Group (LWG) in the Bavarian Oberland took place online. 16 participants discussed how to bring forward a heat transition in the region.

The second meeting of REPLACE’s KAGoP Local Working Group (LWG) was organised on 20 November by SDEWES Skopje. An online ZOOM meeting was held in order to share past and upcoming activities of the REPLACE project and to decide on which are the most relevant campaigns that should be conducted in our target region.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the physical kick-off meeting of the Local Working Group (LWG) in Austria had to be postponed from March, to May, to July and was finally held on 6^th July 2020 in Salzburg. A total of 25 persons attended the meeting with the aim of supporting the phase-out activities of the REPLACE project.

Although COVID-19 turns meetings difficult, especially on international level, the REPLACE project advances constantly. An online consortium-meeting on the 16^th of September 2020 has confirmed: A number of practice-oriented tools shall be ready in the near future to support end-consumers, intermediaries and investors in their replacement actions: 

The first meeting of the REPLACE Local Working Group for Sarajevo Canton was held end of June aiming to make heating and cooling in households for European consumers efficient, economically resilient, clean and climate-friendly. The project has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.

The meeting was attended by the key stakeholder portfolio including representatives of the cantonal ministry, local governments, academia, public utility companies and installers/salers and suppliers of heating and cooling systems in the Sarajevo Canton.

We all know how demanding data collection is. But when you have great partners to work with, the process becomes much easier! And LED bulbs can help, too.

ENOVA’s great partner, the Municipality of Ilijaš, helped us gather valuable data in June – what are the mind-sets and opinions of citizens when we talk about replacing their old heating systems with a new one or with renewable energy sources! Based on the collected data, we will conduct information campaigns to define policies and actions to replace and to improve the lives of citizens through the three-year project #REPLACE, which is funded by the HORIZON2020 program.

As a small sign of gratitude, all participants in the survey received LED light bulbs A ++, which contributes to the promotion of the use of energy efficient appliances in households in Sarajevo Canton.

More Information in Bosnian

Local Working Groups play a central role in the REPLACE project. They help to prepare the ground for regional replacement campaigns towards efficient heating and cooling, and they steer the direction of replacement activities. In order to reach that goal, the Local Working Groups connect all key actors in each REPLACE region.

In the 10 REPLACE regions from Western over Central to Southeastern Europe, the set up of Local Working Groups has started in the first half of 2020. Participants invited come from national authorities, local or regional governments, self-government units, consumer associations, developers, energy utilities, and professional associations e.g. of craftsmen, entrepreneurs or energy controllers.

Report D2.4 shows an in-depth overview of the work that has already been done on national and local level in order to replace inefficient heating and cooling systems. It includes 22 campaigns for the promotion of heating and cooling equipment that took place inside the REPLACE regions, plus five more campaigns that occurred outside the target regions.

Report D2.3 provides information on the status quo of Collective Actions (CAs), Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) and Citizens’ Energy Communities (CECs). Altogether, 19 demand-response actions and 28 examples for collective actions in the REPLACE target countries are shown.

The focus of report D2.2 lies on legal aspects that impede the market acceptance of renewable heating and cooling systems. The barriers, their causes and consequences are the main topics of this report.

A particularly complex problem addressed is related to multi-family buildings to which the Housing Law applies. Furthermore, sharing responsibilities in the energy sector can make it difficult to make decisions at the local level. In this context, it was investigated whether there is an environment for the development of the energy services market and whether and how the use and promotion of renewable energy is encouraged and supported. Other topics are the conflict of interest between flat owners and tenants, barriers referring to decision making introduced in Tenancy Law, and funding to finance incentives.

Countries covered by the report are Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Spain.