Six presentations entitled:
1) The present and future of Energy Communities in Greece and their importance for the Just Transition Development Plan of the West. Macedonia
2) Financial Tools of Energy Communities and Barriers to the Development of Energy Communities in the West. Macedonia
3) SunSharing - Project description, expected outcomes, progress so far, next steps
4) SunSharing - Conclusions drawn from meetings with key stakeholders in project countries
5) SunSharing - Presentation on state-of-play in partner countries
6) SunSharing - Crowdfunding scheme and potential for Energy Communities development
Participants:
100 participants representing: the local government with both the former and current governors participating, most of the municipalities of the region of Western Macedonia with the respective mayors attending, local businesses, academia and other stakeholders. Two (2) members of the national parliament that represent the region attended the event and participated in the open forum part. The event was greeted by two (2) members of the European Parliament who highlighted the importance of Energy Communities for the region of Western Macedonia.
Target Groups:
Local government, region municipalities, parliament members, members of energy communities, professionals in PV technology, and all other relevant and interested stakeholders. Several announcements were released in local media and news blogs:
https://kozan.gr/archives/512980
https://kozanimedia.gr/φόρουμ-για-τις-ενεργειακές-κοινότητε/
http://ai-vres.blogspot.com/2023/11/3.html
https://youtu.be/SYxQQ_n0jwA?si=3OZYlbKJ9P9Hki-r
Conclusions from the event:
The first part of the event was focused on analyzing the current status of Energy Communities in the region and raised several questions and issues on how Energy Communities could face energy poverty and contribute in PV penetration towards self-sufficiency increase. The current framework was described and the barriers related to lack of incentives and funding mechanisms for citizens were discussed in detail. Moreover, technical problems regarding the hosting capacity of the grid for new PV systems were highlighted and the need to overcome these issues was strongly pointed out. Finally, representatives of established and operating Energy Communities explained the potentials and benefits for both the participants and the region in general. In the second part of the event the “Sunsharing” project was presented by the project partners. In this session the aim of the project was analyzed, the progress so far was presented and the current state of play for Energy Communities in each project country was discussed. Finally, the potential of the “Crowdfunding” scheme for further development of Energy Communities was explained to the participants by showing good examples across Europe and by highlighting how this scheme could be triggered in the SEE Europe.
