RES Champions League: Play now ! by RES League

RES CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

A renewable energy competition between European cities and towns

“Play now!” 01 - THE RES CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IN A NUTSHELL Once upon a time : short stories of the first RES leagues RES Champions League - A European Network A straightforward ranking system

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02 - A T THE HEART OF THE EUROPEAN MOVEMENT INVOLVING LOCAL AUTHORITIES Kick-off event at the heart of the European movement involving local authorities RES Champions League at Open Days 2009 Rural energy matters at EUSEW 2011

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03 - EUROPEAN EXCHANGES BETWEEN WILLING ACTORS From a mayor’s solar installation to sunny hectares Towards 100% RES communities in Brittany Hungarian municipalities visit Nuremberg

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04 - EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY No fair game without rules 12 European championship celebration - Season 1 14 SMALL CITIES Prato-allo-Stelvio : The town produces more than100% of its heat and electricity needs with local renewables 16 Schalkham : Nearly everbody has a solar thermal system on their roof 17 Hostetín : “Do-it-yourself” solar systems in and around the village 17 Nowa Deba : Holistic approach for an optimized energy management 18 Montdidier : Pilot town in energy saving and renewables 19 Bansko : 10 MW biomass heating plant 20 Neckarsulm : “We owe it to the sun” 21 MEDIUM CITIES Orosháza : The municipality sets a good example on energy 22 Litomerice : The solar garden of Bohemia 22 Ulm : Sun power to the people 24 LARGE CITIES Czestochowa : Energy policy as a priority in the municipality’s development 25 Grenoble : A city with positive energy 26 Pilsner : One again on a sun throne 27 European championship celebration - Season 2 28 SMALL CITIES Kronprinzenkoog : A tourist village produces green energy 30

CO-ORDINATOR OF THE ACTION CLER (Comité de Liaison Energies Renouvelables) Yannick Régnier (Project Manager) 2B, rue Jules Ferry 93100 Montreuil France Tel. +33 1 55 86 80 04 yannick.regnier@cler.org - www.cler.org

Dobbiaco : 6 renewable energy sources, even for neighbours 31 Nagypáli : Small but strong… and stronger every day! 31 Brunico : Energy self-sufficient town for electricity and heat 32 Szczawnica : Health resort full of solar installations 32 Chepelare : On its way to clean energy 33 MEDIUM CITIES Crailsheim : Sun heats the housing estate in winter as well 34 Jindrichiv Hradec : Bet on biomass secured by a solar portfolio 34 Chambéry : The French pioneer of solar energy now thinks bigger 35 LARGE CITIES Reutlingen : Large city advancing to100% renewable energy 36 Bolzano : The city highlights sustainable energy and transport 36 Bydgoszcz : The city bet on a green energy mix 37 05 - NO EUROPEAN CONTEST WITHOUT NATIONAL LEAGUES Benefits of a league for local authorities 39 Keys elements of a RES league 40 The Solarbundesliga is still very popular after more than ten years 42 Uneven fight of whistles... and the Czech league fitness 44 The French RES league moves actors in territories ! 46 The Polish “project fabric” woven in the RES Champions League 48 Winning with solar energy in Hungary 50 The RES Champions League: an incubator for sustainability champions in Bulgaria 52 Legambiente identifies ‘‘100% renewable municipalities’’ in Italy 54 Belgian municipalities and their citizens take up a challenge: win the title of RES champion! 55 06 - PLAY NOW! Start a national league in your country 56 Starting a RES league 57 Basic prerequisites to start a RES League 58 Making a league attractive for local authorities 59 Organising a national championship celebration 60 IT corner : the features of RES Champions League website and database 61 Contact 62

TEXTS Yannick Régnier (CLER), Andreas Witt (Solarthemen) and all partners of RES Champions League GRAPHIC DESIGN Audrey Elbaz (www.elbazmangano.com)

The sole responsibility for the content of this report lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EACI nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

PHOTOS : TOP : © CLER - BOTTOM : © RES Champions League

h RES Champions League event during the first championship celebration in Dunkerque, May 2010

01 THE RES CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IN A NUTSHELL

Once upon a time : short stories of the first RES leagues The first national league for renewable energy was started in Germany in 2001: the “Solarbundesliga”, or National Solar League. Initially, the editors of a trade journal called Solarthemen (“solar topics”) only had a simple ranking system in mind for the solar power systems installed in cities, towns and villages. The editors had been asked to make a comparison of this type by some local councillors, and it met with a great deal of interest in towns and villages alike. Dozens of local authorities got involved very quickly. Within just a few months of the league taking off, the ranking process had turned into a fully blown contest, and the German environmental organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe soon became its co-organiser. So it was that the title of “Champion of the National Solar League” came to be awarded for the first time in the summer of 2001. In the summer of 2011, around 2,100 local authorities took part in the German championships.

different way in Germany and the Czech Republic right from the start. In these countries, anyone who is able to make the requisite figures seem plausible can register a local authority – an action group, a solar power association, a workmen’s association or even the mayor or chairman of the town council in some cases. The advantage of such a flexible rule is that no resolution needs to be passed by the municipal council regarding participation in the league. In that way the number of participants grows much faster and the competition gets even more interesting. Recently, CLER decided to duplicate the German and Czech strategies while keeping a special link with elected representatives. When the RES Champions League was started as a project, organisations in other countries began to focus on building a league of their own concerning renewables. One motive that

h Ola from the project team on the «blue roof» of CLER premises during the kick-off meeting, September 2008

The French RES League, in contrast, has not seen such rapid growth in the beginning. As Yannick Régnier, the project co-ordinator at energy professionals network CLER, explains, for the first few years it was the municipal council that had to decide on participation in the French league. Regnier explains: “The underlying idea was to set up special relationships with mayors and councillors in order to encourage and support them setting an energy policy on their territory.” This aspect was handled in a

Polish municipalities’ network PNEC had for doing this was to get a better overview of the solar and wood power systems installed in Poland. Besides this, it also felt that such a league could be coupled well with the activities being conducted in a number of towns and cities to promote the use of renewable sources of energy. “However, it isn’t easy to persuade local authorities to participate if they fail to recognise the benefits they will get from a league immediately”, PNEC says. PNEC believes in steady work in such cases. The organisations behind a new league should simply come to terms with the fact that results cannot be expected extremely quickly; this may depend on differing national mentalities as well. Communication is one of the key issues in the leagues now in operation. “In France it’s a marvellous instrument”, Yannick Régnier says. “The league creates an informal network through which councils can be contacted easily – especially in small towns and villages.” It’s possible to find pioneers and front-runners by taking this route, he explains, while the league also acts as a platform for exchanging views and information on best practices.

PHOTOS : © CLER

“Initially, it was important to talk with local authorities in person”, recalls Andreas Witt, editor-in-chief of Solarthemen. “The number of participants increased steadily in the years that followed.” A similar development occurred in the Czech Republic; now there are more than 1080 local authorities in its national solar league. The Czech organisation LEA (League of Ecological Alternatives) reports that it was helpful to get VIPs involved and step up its contact with the press and particular journalists, especially at the beginning. A league also gives this group of reporters the opportunity to address topics such as renewables and climate protection and present them in their media in a relatively simple way.

RES Champions League : A straightforward a European ranking network system It’s like football and other types of sports: what counts is your own activity, but your drive and the fun factor both increase if you compare yourself to others – at a regional, national and international level. It’s the same in the renewables sector. The RES Champions League draws the national RES leagues and the local authorities involved in them together. Its purpose is to motivate people and encourage them to exchange views and information with each other beyond national borders. Any organisation that wish to establish a RES league in its own country can draw on the experience gained in the course of the EU project so far and benefit from the opportunities that currently exist.

A competition can’t exist without any rules. First and foremost, this applies to the scoring system used in the RES Champions League. The scoring system should be as simple as possible while always ensuring that fair conditions prevail. From the start of the RES Champions League in April 2009, partners agreed on basic rules that now apply to every national RES league. However, partner countries can adapt and complete the rules at a national level if they wish – whilst respecting the basic principles defined at European level. Current index The ranking is based on a simple ratio: installed power (or area) per inhabitant. Categories Several technologies for the production of energy from two renewable energy sources are eligible to the competition: • s olar energy: - solar thermal (heat) - solar photovoltaic (electricity) •b iomass energy: - collective heating systems and boilers (heat) - cogeneration units using biomass, including biogas

h Project team having a walk during the 3rd project meeting in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany

PHOTO : © PNEC

All the organisations participating in the RES Champions League are part of this network. They are all trying to increase the popularity of renewable sources of energy and want to motivate people and/or local authorities in their own countries. In other words, the network is also intended to promote the continuous exchange of information. The RES Champions League website (www.res-league.eu) includes subordinate national pages used by participating countries. New countries can be involved in the RES Champions League and be included in the website with a relatively small amount of effort. A number of days have to be planned for this each year, of course, but the effort is rewarded by some obvious benefits. People can profit from other’s experience. And in its own country the activities a local authority conducts gain more value in the general public’s view. Some local authorities might become more motivated by participating in a European contest. It’s certainly advantageous for new leagues to be able to establish a new instrument that provides information and PR services concerning renewables, and be able to do so very quickly. The partners of the RES Champions League network are involved in developing the competition further, in generating new ideas and in shaping the rules that apply for it.

Divisions Every city, town and village can join the competition. A general ranking is provided for each category (solar, biomass). It includes all cities, towns and villages whatever their inhabitants’ number. In addition, three specific rankings are established based on the number of inhabitants according to the following divisions: • small cities: between 5,000 and 19,999 inhabitants • medium cities: 20,000 to 99,999 inhabitants • large cities: more than 100,000 inhabitants

Additional notes In order to prevent the competition from being killed by very large solar plants (especially when installed in small villages), the power of these is not fully counted. The following rule was agreed: “Not more than 40 points out of all PV installations that are bigger than 250 kW but at least the points out of 250 kW per installation.” A combined solar index is calculated, providing bonus points when a balanced mix of solar photovoltaic and thermal installations is present in a municipality. The biomass ranking promotes the sustainable and efficient use of resources for energy-related purposes (strict criteria). The rules are in constant evolution. They are discussed between partners of the RES Champions League and modified only when a consensus is reached. The latest version of the detailed rules is permanently available on the RES Champions League website, in “Rules” section. Specific rules of national RES leagues are available in national pages of the website.

02 AT THE HEART OF THE EUROPEAN MOVEMENT INVOLVING LOCAL AUTHORITIES

the town is the perfect example of frontrunners the RES Champions League aims at highlighting, promoting and awarding. Camille Gira made an inspiring speech explaining that people often identifies themselves to their city, town or village through their football team. Now they have another way to participate and support their city, town or village: their RES league! The Solarbundesliga has proven from its start in 2001 that a competition based h A colourful mexican wave (Ola) involving participants to the Gala dinner of Energy cities & Climate Alliance on renewable energies (especially solar annual rendezvous, April 2009 energy) can be very popular. The RES Champions League, renewable energy competi- Then Ulrike Janssen and Camille Gira kicked-off the event. Two tion among European cities, towns and villages, was officially teams of project partners, identified with red and blue football launched during the Gala dinner of the joint annual rendezvous of shirts made at RES Champions League colours, entered the Énergie-cités & Climate Alliance, on April 23rd 2009 in Brussels. arena under a burst of applause. Once on stage, the teams disThe Gala dinner was hosted by the Minister for energy and envi- played the moto of the project “Play now!” with letters printed on ronment of Brussels Capital region and took place at the Royal their shirts – perfectly in line with the moto of the rendezvous Museums of fine arts of Belgium. “Play the game”. More than 300 mayors, elected representatives, technical staff Ulrike Janssen and Yannick Régnier, coordinator of the RES and stakeholders involved together with municipalities attended Champions League, animated with project partners a football the event. special: a huge and colourful Mexican wave (“ola”). All attendees Ulrike Janssen, Executive Director of Climate Alliance, introduced of the Gala dinner were invited to participate. “Play the game”: the RES Champions League on behalf of the project team. Then everybody understood that words are nothing without action and she gave the floor to Camille Gira, executive board member of played the game perfectly – this time just for fun! Climate Alliance. Camille Gira is the mayor of the municipality of Beckerich (2 300 i Project team displays the moto «Play now!» with letters on football shirts inhabitants) in Luxembourg, a member of the Luxembourg parliament and winner of the European Solar Price 2008 in the category of local authorities. Thanks to the strong political will of his mayor, Beckerich covers 90% of electricity and 40% of heat demand by local renewable energies and heads towards 100% renewable energy for electricity and heat by 2020:

Three new leagues launched during EUSEW 2009 whilst the first Covenant ceremony took place

During the Union Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW 2009), two new national RES leagues were kicked-off in Bulgaria and Hungary. One more started in Poland two weeks later. These three new leagues joined three existing ones in Europe: the Solarbundesliga in Germany, the Solarni Liga in Czech Republic, the Ligue EnR in France. At the same time, more than 300 cities were officially signing the Covenant of Mayors, an ambitious initiative from the European Commission that seeks to bring together the mayors of Europe’s most pioneering cities in a permanent network to exchange and apply good practices to improve their energy efficiency and pro-

mote low-carbon business and economic development. The number of signing local authorities already represented a success at the time and confirmed that local authorities are key players for a sustainable use of energy. The movement has not stopped growing until then and has now the terrific success everybody knows. For the little story, this first Covenant ceremony was broadcasted live on a large screen in Bansko town hall while the Bulgarian RES league was being launched on the 13th of April 2009. Key connections with this European movement on smart energy have been in place since this first moment.

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Kick-off event AT the heart of the European movement involving local authorities

h Participants of «Rural energy matters !» conference during EUSEW 2011, April 2011

RES Champions League Rural energy at Open Days 2009 matters at EUSEW 2011 The seventh edition of the Open Days was organised in Brussels from 5 to 8 October 2009. It is one of the biggest events on the calendar of the EU institutions and proves that regions and cities have an active role to play in the European context. The Open Days are targeted at political representatives, decision makers, experts and practitioners and represent an ideal platform for capacity building, networking and exchange of experiences. Some weeks before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Open Days 2009 showcased several approaches and best practices in regional and local solutions to tackle the effects of climate change. Seminars dealt with regional strategies towards low carbon economies, renewable energies and ways of financing energy efficiency measures through EU cohesion policy. Yannick Régnier, coordinator of RES Champions League, spoke at the workshop «Intelligent Energy Europe Programme – cities and regions working towards a sustainable energy future» in front of a full room. This workshop aimed at supporting cities, regions and other local and regional stakeholders in their actions towards a low carbon future by presenting concrete tools, methodologies and experiences proven to be successful in Europe. It addressed the challenges and opportunities for cities and regions when establishing sustainable energy communities and energy action plans, the role of facilitators to initiate and support local and regional energy actions and the importance of mobilising citizens and local actors for achieving the energy targets.

As part of the EU Sustainable Energy Week 2011, RES Champions League was a partner of the conference entitled « Rural energy matters ! The true energy potential of Europe’s rural areas » organised jointly by FREE initiative and Rurener on April 12th. Over 70 stakeholders attended and joined the lively debate with representatives of the European Commission, European Parliament, upcoming Polish EU Presidency and Committee of the Regions. The conference dealt with the current status of rural energy policies and the energy challenges that rural areas are facing. A debate was held on the role of rural areas in promoting sustainable energy and climate mitigation, ways to better integrate rural communities in these aforementioned EU efforts, and the available rural energy solutions. Eventually, participants were invited to be part of developing conclusions to ensure rural areas and the rural energy potential are not forgotten.

h RES Champions league coordinator Yannick Régnier with representatives of Energy cities, Climate Alliance and the European Commission, April 2009

h Roman Doubrava, DG Energy, spoke at «Rural energy matters !» conference about the involvement of rural communities in the Covenant of Mayors

EUSEW 2011 was dedicated to energy efficiency. In its Energy Efficiency Plan 2011, the European Commission announced measures to boost energy efficiency by 2020. But it takes both urban and rural areas to achieve this. Now a disproportionate emphasis is made on cities and the EU must be more ambitious with regard to energy efficiency in rural areas. The potential for energy savings in rural commercial and domestic buildings is enormous and there are vast opportunities for decentralised and low carbon energy systems.

03 EUROPEAN EXCHANGES BETWEEN WILLING ACTORS

h Not only big PV installations visited participants from three countries during the 1st Study Travel in the Czech Republic

Study travel to the Czech champions has inspired RES fans from three states! Just 40 participants saw 25 installations in 8 municipalities during 2 days. One third of them came from Poland and some from Slovakia. A few figures to present the study travel, which the League of Ecological Alternatives (LEA) organized at the beginning of October 2009 in the south-east of the Czech Republic. The excursion was to serve as an incentive for people from municipalities, who can promote the development of solar and biomass energy and involve their municipalities in the national and the European RES league as well. Among participants, a “delegation” from the 750 km far-away Baltic, three people from three different municipality departments from Slupsk, a city with 100 000 inhabitants, were searching for an inspiration to make their intentions to equip new culture-, sportand social service buildings in reconstructed (earlier e.g. industrial) areas in the inner city with RES technologies a reality. “You can already see some small solar installations for hot water production and biomass boilers in our country, but we have not yet started to build big solar parks, as the one we can see here,” levels her impression Ewa WeitmannRudewicz, the director of financial department. And she continues about RES situation in Poland: “Municipalities have some small subsidy money to support the utilization of RES. Voivodeships, which make their energy policies, have some funds as well, but we do not feel any stronger state support for RES. There is no political party, which would accept

h LEA organisers and a part of Polish participants in front of the various solar installations of Veronica Eco-centre in Hostetin

RES among its priorities and we do not have the Greens here…“. However, thanks to PNEC (Polish Network Energy-Cities) from Krakow, the RES league is running well in Poland. Czech LEA, that organises the Czech Solar league for many years, supports PNEC with gaining experience. Therefore they had together involved Polish participants into the first European study tour. Some Slovak people came, even there is no RES league in their country yet. They were very optimistic, because thanks to new regulations in their country they are expecting a solar boom. They took a lot of notes on the way: in Rusava village (which was an absolute Czech solar champion for 4 years and is still the champion in a category of solar thermal installations) they saw a solar vacuum installation on a roof of the mayor’s house, collectors on a roof of a pub, which they won in the Solar League, another solar installations and heat pumps in the local school and the biggest solar thermal system in our country – 540 m2 at a swimming pool. Also solar parks, which were visited, captivated the participants’ attention: 2,25 MWp in Ostrozska Lhota village, 2,8 MWp in Dubnany town, a new PV park with trackpoints not so far from there in Ratiskovice, even 3,5 MWp in Sudomerice village. The group also visited a municipality biomass heating plant in Hostetin, as well as a local passive eco-centre with a PV and solar thermal roof- and wall-system. The “mosaic” was completed with PV power plants on a recultivated waste dump in the regional city Zlin and finally the low-energy house of the eco-centre with a solar thermal system and a pellets-heating power plant in Horka nad Moravou. No less captivating was the “sacred” project in Vilemov with solar thermal and PV modules on the roof of the Orthodox Academy and its director’s house. They installed also biomass boilers at the Orthodox Academy and at the municipality house. Very inspiring information was given about the project, which intends to provide 50 roofs of church buildings in the Czech Republic with solar installations. Personal databases of all participants, who want to spread the RES idea around, have been enhanced by useful information, remarks and contacts. Karel Merhaut, LEa

PHOTOS : © LEA

From a mayor’s solar installation to sunny hectares

PHOTOS : © CLER

Towards 100% RES communities in Brittany On October 2010, the CLER organized a European study tour entitled «Towards 100% RES communities» in centre Brittany region, dedicated to elected persons and technical staff of local authorities and their partners. A delegation of 11 representatives of Bulgarian local authorities took part next to their 34 French counterparts. Jean-Luc Daubaire, deputy Mayor of Rennes in charge of energy and counsellor of the association of municipalities Rennes métropole, explained how Rennes Metropole committed to reduce his CO2 emissions from at least 20% by 2020 signing the Covenant of Mayors and encouraging his member municipalities to sign also. This approach resulted in the voluntary commitment and signature of 34 towns out of the 37 composing Rennes Metropole. The neighbour association of municipalities of the Val d’Ille and his 10 municipalities made the same commitment, encouraged by Daniel Cueff, his president and mayor of Langouët.

Rennes and enclosed in centre Brittany, away from main communication ways. To the origin of the project, a specific motivation acts as a connecting thread: the will to strengthen the local economy by diversifying activities (a single food processing industry unit employs 2000 persons), in particular around a strong axis on energy. Concretely, the objective is to take advantage of the energetic value of the territory (biomass from forests, agriculture and animals, wind, sun), that is to say to convert expenses for fossil fuel imports into local investments for the benefit not only of local actors in the field of energy, but also of farmers, forest owners and operators, local craft and small industry (buildings...). The territorial approach rules all projects: matching demand from local heating plants and offer from local wood owners, citizen investments in the wind park, environmental treatment of excess liquid manure from pig breeding via the collective methanisation unit Géotexia, allowing moreover the production of renewable

h The group in front of the rural ecodistrict of La Pelousière in Langouët, member town of the Communauté de comune du Val d’Ille

h Participants walk around the streets of Mordelles, discovering the smart urban planning strategy of the town

These signatures are not only ink on paper. The member municipalities of Rennes Metropole are implementing concrete actions. Thus, participants to the study tour visited the first elderly house provided with medical care that was awarded the low energy consumption BBC standard (50 kWhPE/m2/year): it is of bioclimatic design, made in wood and equipped with renewable energies. In Langouët, the housing development of La Pelousière is composed of individual terraced houses and a small collective building all at BBC standard and made in wood. The day after, participants walked in the street of Mordelles, a town that developed an important urban renewal programme and a new district well connected to the town centre. The result is a land consumption of only 25 ha for 1600 housings. Not surprising that these projects were led by a mayor who started his career as an agronomist: Bernard Poirier, also first deputy president of Rennes Metropole in charge of sustainable development, knows how valuable farmland is. Then visits led us to the association of municipalities of the Mené (7 villages, 6300 inhabitants), located 70 km to the west of

electricity, rape-seed oil fuel cooperative aiming also to guarantee the origin of feed for the breeding (pigs are fed with oil cake which is a local and economic by-product issued from the rape-seed oil production process). Dominique Rocaboy, farmer and president of the CUMA Géotexia (a CUMA is a cooperative for the use of agricultural equipments) and Jacky Aignel, mayor of Saint-Gouéno, vice-president in charge of the environment of the association of municipalities and initiator of the CUMA Menergol, show their involvement together with other local farmers in favour of the increase of energy autonomy of their territory, as a local and alternative development project to an extreme centralisation (energy, agriculture) and the anticipation of social and environmental crisis expected due to the growing scarcity of fossil fuels. The projects in the Mené are inspired from travels made in Germany, Austria and northern countries: may this travel in centre Brittany inspire now all participants from France and Bulgaria that took part to it ! Yannick Regnier, CLER

03 EUROPEAN EXCHANGES BETWEEN WILLING ACTORS

Hungarian municipalities visit the region of Nuremberg vated. The tenants pay higher base rents but due to lower energy costs, the total costs decreased slightly. At a visit at the company Sunline-Solar AG, the group learnt about the local economic opportunities of solar energy. The last station of the day was the company IBA, which developed and installed a solar thermal system of their company’s offices roof right in the city center in order to cool down the rooms in the summer time. Whereas the company had no commercial interest (solar energy is not amongst the business branches of the company) with this facility, the technical know-how gathered with this project is valuable for their engineering work. In the evening a representative from the city of Erlangen explained about the city’s programmes to motivate citizens to install RES and support in the different measures for energy savings and efficiency. The success of Erlangen in the German solar league builds on the initiative of many private persons and institutions. Due to the initiative of a local association, a solar roof is to be found on every school in the city.

The second day of the study tour focussed on the city of Nuremberg. The head of department “Municipal Energy Management” highlighted the high potential for energy savings in the public buildings by influencing the user’s behaviour. He explained the “Keep Energy in Mind” programme at Nuremberg’s schools and pointed out that the caretakers are in a key position for the success of such energy saving programmes at schools. They should be involved not only during the implementation of the programmes but also during the elaboration, as they can give essential technical hints. Also, the controlling of the energy use at public buildings brought reduced consumption by 5% corresponh Participants to the German-Hungarian study tour in front of the «solar hill» in Fürth ding to monetary savings of 800.000 within 2 months after the start of construction of the facility. Euro. The German Association of Cities and Towns estimates a Rural energy production also plays a role in Fürth: this was potential reduction of 15% through controlling. shown a visit at a cattle-farm in a city district, where a combined heat and power biogas plant is run since 2004. A PV plant on the Then the combined heat and power (CHP) plant of the wastewaroofs of the cowsheds delivers additional electrical energy. The ter treatment plant of Nuremberg was visited. It contributes to Lord Mayor of Fürth, Dr. Thomas Jung, joined and welcomed the the thermal energy necessary for the fermentation process and guests here and indicated the importance of renewable energies provides one third of the electrical energy of the treatment plant. for the development of the city of Fürth. The first module runs since 2003 and was extended to a total 3,7 The building society of the city of Fürth presented the energetic MW this year by a second module in order to use peak supply renovation of a 16-storey building (built in 1965) with 75 apartof biogas. Another CHP plant (about 2 MW) is installed in the ments and the installation of Fürth’s largest solar thermal facility indoor swimming pool of a district of Nuremberg. The CHP is run on the building in 2010. Energy efficiency measures alone lead by a contracting company, which sells the produced energy to the to energy savings of 60% of the thermal energy. The solar therpublic pool operator. Fuel is rap-seed oil with provenance from mal installation of 85m² leads to additional 11 % savings, also close farms. Uwe Friedel, DUH because it helps to reduce the peak load and thus significantly reduce the times when the back-up oil burner needs to be acti-

PHOTOS : THIS PAGE : © DUH UWE FRIEDEL - NEXT PAGE : TOP LEFT : @ YANNICK RÉGNIER CLER - TOP RIGHT : © DUh uwe friedel - bottom : © dadael prod

The cities of Fürth, Nuremberg and Erlangen were the destination of a study travel of 25 representatives from Hungarian municipalities, amongst which the winners of the 2010 Hungarian RES league, in late April 2011. The first station was the the “Solarcity Fürth”, where the “Solar Appointee” Johann Gerdenitsch fosters the installation of PV installations for many years now which lead to a steady rise of installations. Today, 12.3 MW are installed on Fürth’s roofs. One of the most impressing projects of Fürth is a 1 MW PV installation on a waste disposal site. In 2003, 350 module tables were mounted on the slope. The financing of the facility demanded a total investment of approx. 4.7 M€. Working within the framework of the citizen investment model, the Sparkasse Fürth took charge of the external financing and the acquisition of investors. The necessary shareholder’s capital amounted to around 1.5 M€ 500.000 Euros were covered by the financial engagement of the city of Fürth and the rest was secured from around 120 citizens

h P articipants to the French study tour next to the rape-seed oil fuel production cooperative called Menergol

h (TOP) Fortunately a responsible engineer of the CHP plant in the wastewater treatment plant of Nuremberg spoke fluently Hungarian and could explain technical details in depths. h (BOTTOM) The German study tour participants learn about the local solar industry at the Sunline-Solar AG

i Study tour in France: Bulgarian and French representatives in front of a wind park in Trébry, October 2010

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

h Project teams ready to enter the arena of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts during the kick-off event, April 2009

Very soon after the RES Champions League started, dramatic differences in the development of renewable energies in partner’s countries were confirmed by the first results given by the ranking system (which was not quite a surprise). For example, almost only German cities and towns were in top 100 in solar photovoltaic category. For this reason, partners agreed unanimously that champions should not be awarded only on the ground of points: a two round process including national semi-finals and a European final was set up.

organization responsible for the national league, usually with the participation of a national jury, upon the evaluation of filled questionnaires and any additional data provided by municipalities. In each national league, semi-finals phase results in the selection of one city, town or village for the final in every European division: General ranking: all sizes • Small cities: from 5.000 to 19.999 inhabitants • Medium cities: from 20.000 to 99.999 inhabitants • Large cities: more than 100.000 inhabitants

Semi-final at national level In every country, the semi-final candidates are selected by the organization responsible for the national league among bestranked municipalities participating to the solar and/or biomass leagues. A specific questionnaire was designed at European level: it is addressed to every semi-final candidate in all participating countries. The objective of the questionnaire is to get a wide overview of installations, actions and policies related to renewable energy and energy saving issues. The questionnaire includes several sections in which candidates are invited to provide detailed information: • Personal implication of key representatives of the city, town or village • Public buildings and services • Public policy • Information and communication towards local actors • Territorial dynamic In every country, the semi-final winners are determined by the

RES Champions League final at European level The finalists (e.g. semi-final winners in every country) then compete against each other. A European jury composed of energy experts, environmental NGOs, municipalities’ associations and specialized journalists analyzes thoroughly the dossiers of finalists. Then a two-round voting process is implemented: each member of the jury gives 3 points, 2 points and 1 points respectively to his first, second and third choices. The first round aims at selecting the three awarded municipalities, the second one at establishing a podium (1st, 2nd and 3rd place) in every European division. Up to 2011, seven different nations were represented and competed at the final stage of the competition in different divisions (more countries are now taking part). As a consequence of the semi-final rules, only one city, town or village from each country may be placed on the same podium. Therefore, municipalities from every country in the RES Champions League have the opportunity to get onto the podium, despite the dramatic differences in national contexts for RES (wealth, support systems…).

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No fair game without rules

PHOTOS : © Atelier Chévara etc. avec Guillaume Boynard

h Champions of French 2010 season glorified in the position of famous statues, January 2010

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

RES Champions League players turned

Dunkerque agora into an arena! The championship celebration of the RES Champions League took place on Wednesday May 19th in Dunkerque, during the 6th European conference of sustainable cities and towns. Prato-alloStelvio (Italy) won the Gold medal in the general ranking. German cities of Neckarsulm and Ulm took the Gold medals respectively in the divisions «20,000 to 100,000 inhabitants» and «more than 100,000 inhabitants». Last but not least, the town of Nowa Deba created the surprise by giving the last Gold medal (division «5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants) to Poland. Winners were awarded cups and medals, just like in football Champions League! The first season of the RES Champions League gathered 2 600 European local authorities and 50 millions inhabitants from seven countries: Germany, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland and the Czech republic. To announce the championship celebration to the participants to

the conference, the RES Champions League team organised a happening: two teams with football shirts of red and blue colours entered the agora under a blaring of whistles, following the master of ceremony acting as the referee. Then players simulated a short warm-up, spread all over Dunkerque convention centre agora and among surprised and smiling conference participants. Eventually the referee blew the kick-off of the ceremony and RES Champions League partners brought the audience to the meeting point. At the same time, the football Champions League anthem was played loud and acted as a Pavlov bell to all football fans in the hall, who eventually joined the event. After the Ola held during the kick-off of the action In Brussels, the RES Champions League proposed again a good piece of fun justifying once more our motto: “Play the game, play now!” Yannick Régnier, CLER

h Municipality representatives awarded during the 1st ceremony in Dunkerque, May 2010

Division

European champions

General ranking : all sizes

1st : Prato-allo-Stelvio (Italy) 2nd : Schalkham (Germany) / 3rd : HostEtín (Czech republic)

Small cities : from 5,000 to 19,999 inh.

1st : Nowa DEba (Poland) 2nd : Bansko (Bulgaria) / 3rd : Montdidier (France)

Medium cities : from 20,000 to 99,999 inh.

1st : Neckarsulm (Germany) 2nd : Orosháza (Hungary) / 3rd : LitomERice (Czech republic)

Large cities : more than 100,000 inh

1st : Ulm (Germany) / 2nd : Grenoble (France) 3rd EX-AEQUO : CzEstochowa (Poland) & PlzeN (Czech republiC)

PHOTOS : © RES Champions League

2010 European champions

PHOTO S: ÂŠ RES Champions League

h Winners of RES Champions League awarded during season 1 in Dunkerque, May 2010

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY general ranting

Prato-allo-Stelvio (3,375 inhab., Italy)

The town produces more 100% of its heat and electricity needs with local renewables

h Biogas installation using organic waste from 50 farmers and supplying cogeneration units in Prato-allo-Stevio, Italy

Prato allo Stelvio distinguishes itself not only thanks to the mix of renewable energies, made of 6 different technologies, but also thanks to the local distribution network run by a local cooperative that makes the town, due to historical reasons, an almost autonomous municipality in terms of energy production and distribution. The development of the grid started after the First World War, when the community of Prato allo Stelvio was going through a severe economic crisis and at the same time was forced to pay very high costs for the electricity coming from the nearby communities. Six willing men established the energy company (the Power Cooperative E-Weerk) in 1926 and built the first hydroelectric power plant partly funded by the inhabitants (through the purchase of shares) and partly financed by loans. Next year, the cooperative was already distributing about 35 MWh of energy, figure that increased to 350 MWh in 1951, when the coopera-

tive members were 81 and the customers 381 (approximately 600 in 1975). Today, an amount of energy, which is higher than real needs of the local residents in terms of electrical and thermal (heating and hot water) requirements, is supplied by two biomass heating plants with a total output of 1.4 MW through a 21 km long network (75% of buildings are connected), five combined heat and power units supplied with biogas and hybrid biogas/ biomass fuel with a total output of 1.4 MW, four hydroelectric plants with a total output of 3.6 MW, hundreds of solar systems installed on the roofs (1,100 m2 of solar thermal collectors and 3 MW powered by solar panels) and wind turbines with a total output of 2.6 MW. A biogas production unit uses manure, liquid manure and other organic waste from 50 farmers and produces 600.000 cubic meters a year. The ‘lucky’ residents of this small town benefit from these technologies on at least two sides: they preserve the clean air of this mountain region and they get less expensive bills of approximately 30-40%. Due to the growing demand for energy, the network was progressively developed as the production of energy from renewable sources increased. Therefore, Prato allo Stelvio now gets a network that can efficiently manage the various renewable sources so much so that in 2003 it prevented the small towns from the Province of Bolzano from being affected by the nation-wide black out. The system, indeed, ensured the continuous energy supply to all the users. Today the cooperative has over 900 members and, apart from providing energy to over 90% of the community users, inject the surplus into the network. Katiuscia Eroe

Schalkham (862 inhab., Germany): nearly everbody has a solar thermal system

on thEIR rooF

i In Schalkham nearly everbody has a solar thermal system on the roof of his house

a bulk order as a community, so that inhabitants could get it much cheaper. The citizens worked together to install the systems on the roofs. Only one professional installer helped them. In the recent years, the people also invested in photovoltaic systems. Now in average every of the 869 citizens has installed 2,4 kW or together more than 2,1 MW. Andreas Witt, Solarthemen PHOTOS : TOP : © EWS PRATO - bottom : © town of schalkam

Schalkham is a small town in Bavaria. It’s situated in one of the poorest regions there. But Schalkham is really a solar town. The people of Schalkham have installed solar thermal systems with nearly 1,6 square meter per inhabitant. This is the highest number in Germany. It was the former mayor who initiated this development. He was the one who asked the people to install solar thermal systems. And he proposed to buy the collectors through

HostEtín (244 inhab., Czech Republic)

“Do-it-yourself” solar systems in and around THE village

h Eco-centre VERONICA in Hostetin (built in passive standard), which spreads information about RES utilization around the whole Czech Republic

The “Sun for the White Carpathians” programme (19972001) was about installation of solar systems for heating water. The main objective was to install larger amount of solar energy systems, which would attract people’s attention and convince them of the possibilities and advantages of using solar heating. The programme was one of the first such programmes to promote the use of renewable energy from the sun in the Czech Republic.

PHOTO : © lea archive

HISTORY, FUNDING AND USE TECHNOLOGY The programme started in 1997, when the first system with a collector with an area of 6 m2 and a reservoir of 700 litres were installed in July. An important feature of the programme was the use of a modular solar system, in the installation of which the future user was always involved. The maintenance of the system also called for his active participation. The programme addressed mainly people, who had traditionally partially substituted the investment costs by inserting their own work and craftsmanship. The achievement was connected with awareness-raising and financial support of the model installations. More than 60 mayors from nearby villages were addressed with an offer of solar installations on buildings serving the public interest. Until 2001, solar systems were installed on 45 buildings, most of them public buildings. The programme was terminated in 2001 due to development of commercial installations and offers of state financial support, which could not be obtained for do-it-yourself (DIY) systems. LOWER CAPITAL AND OPERATING COSTS The low price was an advantage of the modular system. It cost less than half the price of comparably efficient systems, which were then available on the Czech market. Simple return on investment without the subsidy would be about six years. Installation costs were actually lower thanks to the possibility to obtain grants from foundations. Cost of water heating had decreased

very much after system installation due to the substitution of electricity consumption. EDUCATION AND AWARENESS A demonstration effect and a momentum for further use of solar energy were the aim of the project. One programme module was meant for direct training of craftsmen, who were then able to carry out further assembling. For the needs of users and craftsmen, a brochure on the installation and maintenance of DIY solar systems has been prepared and published. Later, the ecological institute Veronica translated assembly manual by Austrian authors. The educational part of the project went beyond the practical part of the installation. Solar technicians, engineers and architects, but also students of secondary industrial schools and technical universities, were essentially the programme’s target groups. For educational activities aimed at specialists, Veronica used the Solar Net platform of Czech-Austrian solar projects. Today, two large solar thermal installations are visible on the roof of a juicing plant (36 m2, 2001) – producing organic juice from traditional White Carpathians apple varieties – and on the ecocentre building wall (22 m2, 2008). A photovoltaic installation of 9 kW was also added on the eco-centre. These systems represent a good illustration of local know-how: many excursions and also important state visits are welcomed (e.g. Prince Charles in March 2010) by the NGO Veronica, which deals with the spread of a large spectrum of eco-information. If today in municipalities around Hostetín you can see more - even professional - solar installations, it is not only thanks to improved conditions for solar energy utilisation, for example through state subsidies, and offers of companies in the Czech market, but certainly also thanks to the work of people around Hostetín Ecocentre, who sowed ‘the first seeds of’ interest years ago. LEA

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SMALL CITIES

Nowa DEba (11,900 inhab., Poland)

Holistic approach for an optimized energy management

h City heating plant of 8 MW using wooden chips in Nowa Deba

These were the initial foundations to the project, which has finalized with the construction of an 8 MW wooden chips-fired boiler house, connected with the district heating system of Nowa Dęba. The project also included the extension of the heating network to supply eventually 42 public buildings, health care centre, police station, social care house, sport centre, 8 private houses, bakery, buildings of municipal management utility. Recently, the culture centre and 2 blocks of flats have also been connected to the network. But the holistic conception of the project also includes a willow biomass production to supply the boiler and the associated fuel preparation plant. Converted sludge from the municipal sewage treatment plant is used for the fertilization of the plantation. This project is the first one in Poland, which connects dedicated biomass production, usage of green wastes and use of the sludge from a local sewage treatment facility as a fertilizer. Within the next 2-3 years, the willow grown on the plantations will become the main fuel used in the boiler.

In addition to this biomass heating plant that covers 60% of city heat demand, Nowa Deba has also the following installations: - a cogeneration plant (combustion of coal and biomass) producing 1,5 MW electricity and 8,8 MW heat. - solar panels for a total of 234 m2 (in private houses, restaurant and sport centre). The municipality is actively involved into the implementation of several European projects, recently in: - MODEL (the Municipal Energy Programme 2010-2013 was prepared and accepted by the city council), - Energy certificates for public buildings (energy audits in 3 public buildings, energy certificates and labels), - EURONET 50/50 (energy saving in schools with the use of 50/50 methodology to the European network of educational centres). The Municipal Management Utility, which is an administrator of some of pubic buildings, developed a “Thermomodernisation Plan” and it is two years since investments in retrofitting were started. Moreover, Nowa Deba is active in communication and promotion, organizes Municipal Energy Days for citizens, participates in RES and EE conferences – sharing the municipality experience in the field of production and supply of biomass, planting the energy willow (on the area of municipality the plantation of over 80 ha is located), exploitation of biomass boilers. The city also hosts the representatives of local authorities from Ukraine, Slovakia, Armenia and Kirghizistan. PNEC

PHOTO : © PNEC

Nowa Deba municipality, in pursue of a cheaper heating system for communal flats, decided to use its inborn advantage – large forest complexes and steadily increasing acreage of fallow lands. After some discussions and considerations, a global solution considering at the same time the issues of heat production, fuel supply and sludge treatment has been chosen.

Montdidier (6,012 inhab., France)

Pilot town in energy saving and renewables Montdidier (6 500 inhabitants, located in the northern part of France) works with his municipal energy utility to implement a local policy of energy saving and development of renewable energies. Ten years ago, the utility (then supplying 3000 clients) wondered about his future existence as a public service, in the context of the competition to be introduced by the liberalization of the electricity market in Europe. The town then launched the operation «Pilot town in energy saving», supported by a framework agreement between the utility, the town of Montdidier, the Picardie region and the ADEME (national energy saving agency). The town aims at covering more than half of his energy consumption by local renewable energies by 2015 and targets a reduction by four of greenhouse gases emissions by 2050. The main steps of the sustainable energy programme of Montdidier show a clear growing momentum in the consideration of the energy issue: - 2003 : study on the energy saving potential and start of the wind project. - 2004 : design and sizing of a theoretical programme and quantification of the impacts of this programme. Decision to start the operation «Pilot town». Signature of the framework agreement between the utility, the town, the region and the ADEME. Start of the engineering support mission. - 2005 : start of a rural energy support service shared with neighbourhood municipalities and a planned operation of building retrofits on the territory of the association of municipalities. Implementation of an energy advice service. - 2006 : study for the construction of a district heating network supplied by a wood heating plant. - 2007 : call for offers for the construction and operation of the heating network. - 2008 : obtaining a permit for the construction of 4 wind turbines ; construction of the heating network ; construction of the photovoltaic installation of the Prieuré ; vote during a town council meeting of a budget for the retrofit of all schools ; start up of the heating network supplied by a wood heating plant - a PV plant is installed on the roof of the heating plant. - 2009 : call for offers for the global retrofit of schools and the

PHOTOS : © ville de montdidier

$ Wood district heating plant equipped with photovoltaic panels

hW ind park of the «moulin à cheval» owned by the public utility of the town of Montdidier

construction of a wind park, first thermal retrofit on the Prieuré school. - 2010 : start up of the wind park, thermal retrofit on Victor Hugo school, study for the creation of a biogas unit, brainstorming on energy plus buildings, preliminary work on the creation of an ecodistrict. The leading project of the municipality, the wind park of «moulin à cheval», took seven years to come out of earth: the park is in operation since spring 2010. The consumption of electricity in Montdidier is 19 GWh/year. The wind production covers half of the needs. The wind park is composed of 4 wind turbines of 2 MW each. «The creation of this wind park, the first public wind project directly led by a municipality in France, shows that local authorities are able to consider the energy issue on the whole and make it a key axis of their local economic development», say the town and the utility of Montdidier. The profits issued from the wind park operation will be allocated the following way: - 1/3, in priority, dedicated to compensatory measures associated to the removal of visible electricity cables located in the perimeter of historical monuments, then to the improvement of the quality of medium and low voltage distribution grid, - 1/3 to the financing of the operation «Montdidier, pilot town in energy saving», through subsidies to efficient heating and hot water production installations, to the development of communication tools focussed on energy saving and to renewable energy production installations. - 1/3 to the town of Montdidier for energy savings and thermal retrofits of public buildings, together with the implementation of other actions in the field of sustainable development. The operation «Pilot town in energy saving» represents an opportunity of diversification and promotion of the public service provided by the utility, thanks to local and personalised services. The utility plays a key role for its clients facing energy challenges, together with his traditional role of local energy distributor and provider. The territorial scale is a real advantage to initiate this kind of operations: the local acknowledgement of the utility and the simplicity of exchanges between the different departments, elected persons of the town and the utility are one of the success factors of the programme. Yannick Régnier, CLER - October 2010

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SMALL CITIES

Bansko (8,511 inhab., Bulgaria)

10 MW biomass heating plant for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Bulgarian Credit Rating Agency (BACR) assigns credit rating PFR 3 [BBB+] (positive trend) to the Bul Eko Heat power station project. This is a very high rate. Project manager of the site is Ivan Hinovsky. He is presently the director of business development for Pro EcoEnergia Ltd. The equipment was produced by Polytechnik GmbH Austria. The plant is supplied with wood waste from logging in Forestry Belitsa Dobrinishte, Velingrad and Razlog (all are members of State Forestry Agency) and waste material from companies in the furniture industry.

h Biomass boiler in Bansko, leader town of the Bulgarian RES League

Bansko is a resort town in the Pirin Mountains in the Southeast part of Bulgaria. The town is a fascinating symbiosis of history, tradition and culture. Its territory comes up to 50 000 hectares. The 15 000 hectares (approximately 33%) of area of the municipality Bansko are part of National Park ‘Pirin’. By an order of UNESCO, National Park ‘Pirin’ is included in the Convention for Protection of the World Natural Heritage. The summer is brief and fresh and the winter is snowy, mild and continuous. The heating season is not less than 9 months. Bansko hosts a ten-megawatt wood-chip-burning plant. This project was implemented jointly by the municipality of Bansko and the investor “Bul Eco Energy” LTD. Investment costs were over 5 000 000 BGN (over 2 500 000 Euros). The project is financed through the BEERECL credit line of European Bank

Bul Eco Energy built a 5.5 km long heating distribution network. The heating plant supplies heat to 25 private buildings, including hotels, residences and a church; as well as 20 municipal buildings, including schools, a kindergarten, the Vapsarov Museum and the hospital. The economic impact of the biomass heating plant in Bansko results in over 50% reduction in energy bills of the heated buildings. The positive environmental impacts of the project are clearly visible with the emissions saved: over 4 500 t CH2/year, over 1 300 t CH4/ year, over 1 700 t NOx/ year, over 1 600 t SO2/ year. At a ceremony held in Bansko in February 2009 for the establishment of the Bulgarian RES League, Banksko’s Mayor Aleksandar Kravarov said: “We are proud of what has been achieved so far in our city. We are pleased that there may be other cities that might want to learn from our example. At the same time, we have an opportunity to learn from some of the best practices in Europe as a result of this competition.” ABEA

iVisit of the wood district heating plant in Bansko during the kick-off of the Bulgarian RES league

Neckarsulm (25,970 inhab., Germany)

“We owe IT to the sun” Neckarsulm is not a tranquil climate health resort: it hosts the Audi head office. The automaker is the dominant employer in the town of Neckarsulm with its 27 000 inhabitants. The historic downtown and rolling vineyards around represent the other side of Neckarsulm. It was the wine growers who first helped the town to flourish. “We owe that to the sun”, they use to say and, “no sun – no wine”. And they also appreciate the benefits offered by the German solar electricity feed-in law (EEG), so that they have put up solar power plants on their barn roofs. On the edge of Neckarsulm, a small photovoltaic module drives a rotating ball, quite a symbol of the municipality’s commitment to promote the use of solar energy. One of the promoters is Klaus Grabbe, deputy mayor in charge of buildings department. Throughout Neckarsulm, it is the many individual projects that matter to him. For instance, when the old glass panels had to be replaced on Baley, the municipal event centre, semi-transparent solar modules were mounted instead. In a new building zone, the municipal utilities put up an autonomous local district heating system supplied by a wood heating plant. The energy company EnBW AG did not like that at all. The company tried to persuade the municipality to change his mind and to connect the building zone to the power supplier’s long distance heating network. “But that is not what we want”, Grabbe says. Wherever possible renewable energies should be employed.

PHOTOS : previous page : © cler - this page : TOP : © City of Neckarsulm

To be sure, Neckarsulm has been on the solar path not just since Grabbe has the say in building matters. As early as 15 years ago, a large-scale project for the use of solar heat has been realised in Neckarsulm, the kind of projects, which are still not very numerous. The whole borough of Amorbach has been connected to a seasonal thermal storage system, which saves the heat in summer to use it in wintertime. Here, the sun holds a 50 percent share of the heat supply. Deputy Mayor Grabbe can easily translate his ideas into local policy since the municipal council backs him unanimously. $ I n the district Amorbach big solar thermal installations on the roofs are providing heat for the buildings in the district

h There is not much to see from the big storages for solar thermal heat in the ground

Some years ago, all town council groups had joined in a letter, which encouraged him to leave Schwäbisch Hall and return to Neckarsulm. When it comes to solar energy, the town council takes a unanimous position, declares the community politician. Some of the members of the council operate their own photovoltaic and solar thermal installations. Already 14 years ago, the registered association Solar- und Energie-Initiative Heilbronn e.V. was founded on the initiative of Neckarsulm. And for some years now, the community has afforded its own promotion programme supporting citizens to buy their own solar energy panels. The town council has allocated 200.000 euros for this purpose. Even Neckarsulm is not rolling in money, Grabbe says. But it’s all a question of priorities. So the town council has made a policy decision not to put up any new municipal buildings without an innovative approach to energy management. Presently, renewable energies account for heating ca. 80 percent of the community buildings. And the community relies on counselling citizens in manifold ways. As a result, citizens have already installed many solar power installations. The total power thereof amounts to some 6 MW. To be added are solar thermal plants comprising a surface of over 10.000 square meters, 7.000 of which in the solar village of Amorbach. The solar strategy also pays for Neckarsulm economically. When some years ago the company now named KAKO new energy GmbH was looking for a new location, Grabbe convinced them to benefit from the attractive terms and settle in Neckarsulm. “Back then we were still quite a small player”, KACO general manager Ralf Hofmann recalls. In the first year, they just sold four inverters, he reports. Today KACO numbers among Europe’s largest inverter manufacturers. “At that time, we were fortunate Neckarsulm took care of us”, Hofmann declares, “and today Neckarsulm can be happy we are here”. Andreas Witt, June 2010

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY MEDIUM CITIES

Orosháza (29,629 inhab., Hungary)

The municipality sets A good example on energy

h The first step in the utilization of the geothermal potential of the region in the bath of Orosháza-Gyopárosfürd

h The building of the social home and public kitchen equipped with a 295m2 solar thermal system on the roof

Orosháza lies near the south-eastern border of Hungary where the glass manufacturing, agriculture machinery food and textile industries are the main industries. In Orosháza, they set themselves the target to reduce their energy costs and modernize all the public buildings. They hired an energy manager, Mr. József Varjú, and their first step was to measure the status of their public buildings.

floor space. The former synagogue building was also rebuilt and serves the public’s cultural need as the House of Arts. The municipality is planning to use the geothermal potential of the region, first with a 1 MW geothermal plant together with a nice wellness spa, which was developed in 2004. Further expansion is on the way with a 10 MW geothermal power plant that will provide the power for all of the public institutions. «Our currently running projects and existing systems based on renewable energy provide more than 11 MW total power!” says Mr. József Varjú, the energy-manager of the town. “We try to involve the people, so we started a program for retrofit the “soviet-style” apartment blocks, commonly known as “panel blocks”. The municipality helps these houses in the tendering operations, and selecting the contractors. It is important to give these experiences to the inhabitants, to encourage them to follow our good practises.” “For us, the European prize 2010 is a great honour, the fruit of our labour”, said Mr. Béla Németh, the Mayor of Orosháza. Emese Kovács, Energiaklub

A series of public buildings have already been renewed. The renovations aim to rationalize the energy consumption and the use of renewable energy. The buildings of the general and the secondary school are completely renovated, the social home and social kitchen buildings were reconstructed, the heating systems were modernised, and the old windows were replaced. Furthermore, 295 square meters of solar panels were put on the roofs. Another school is under retrofit nowadays: a thermal collector will provide the school’s hot water demand after the works. The Community Centre was rebuilt and operates in increased

LitomERice (23,768 inhab., Czech Republic)

many of which are visible on rooftops already from afar. The picture that fans of green energy could see only in Germany or Austria until recently inspires others interested in promotion. And not only among citizens, but also among neighbouring mayors, who are considering introducing a municipal funding model in their villages and towns. It assists to significant influx of requests for contributions, when reports of further price increase of fossil energy appear in media. “It had not happen to us before, we have received an application for and managed to pay subsidies to five applicants by mid-January,” describes the growing interest Mr. Pavel Gryndler, Head of Municipal Environmental Office. It was him, who “has licked the local support into shape”, since 2002. The emergency model was adjusting with increasing amounts of

PHOTOS : © City of Oroshaza

The solar garden of Bohemia Litomerice, located in the north of Prague, was the first Czech municipality, where local funding to support renewable energy stirred genuine interest in people in a change. Litomerice, a town with 25,000 inhabitants, a centre of fertile lowlands nicknamed ‘The Garden of Bohemia‘, has helped many families with collectors’ installation by contributing from the town budget. The main support attraction is the town’s motto: “Who gives quickly, gives twice”. It worked even when the state suspended national subsidies and the number of installations decreased. Just Litomerice, where collectors were still accumulating in a solid pace, was an exception. You can recognize the progress mainly in the north of the city, in Pokratice, where you can see most of solar energy “traps”,

subsidies paid from the municipal budget from year to year. The original contribution was CZK 20,000 (i.e. EUR 800) per project. At the time of the suspended receipt of requests for state subsidies in 2005, the town doubled the contributions, i.e. the current 40,000 CZK for the project. Note that only apartment or house owners, who have installed at least 3 m2 of collector area and use the ecological heating (not coal), are entitled to contribution in Litomerice. In order to avoid conflicts with conservationists (as the centre of the town is in a listed area), it is necessary to inform the relevant building authority of the intention to install the system. It is also necessary to add the Heritage Institute’s opinion, if the house is located in the conservation zone. Even a citizen drawing a subsidy for a solar installation would get into troubles, if he started heating with coal again. Not only he would have to return the subsidy, but he would also have to pay a fine in the same amount. However, this scenario has not happened yet. CARVING RICHARD Does a town have to be rich in order to be able to afford such solar presents for its citizens? The reality was more prosaic. Richard is responsible for all that. But he is not a local VIP, it is the lifeless storage of low radioactive waste at the bottom of the mine of the same name. When the city got the compensation for its “nuclear pit”, which was designed for environmental purposes, it was decided. “We started to pay citizens extra money for collectors at a time when the amount of the state financial support was not so interesting and the reception of requests was quite irregular”, says Paul Gryndler about the start. He himself was inspired by local support in some German cities. Since then, roughly a third of compensation for “Richard” has been directed to the solar installations, but the town hall intend to continue with the support even after this resource dries out. The solar contributions are a matter of priority, not a question of the town budget. In 2001, Litomerice

was awarded the Czech Solar Prize (from the domestic branch of EUROSOLAR). Partly taking the idea from Litomerice, further seven Czech municipalities have started to implement the idea of local subsidies (including Plzen city). However, Litomerice is the only place where the contributions are paid within 14 days after approval of the request. Compared to the State Fund, from which the applicants receive money usually after months, the town impetus operates psychologically more effectively for urban citizens, although the amount of contribution is lower. Town contributions, whose attractiveness is rising just as they come together with government subsidies, come part and parcel with hard rules. A citizen, who installed panels on his house heated by coal, knows quite something hereabout. The situation became clear during the mandatory inspection tour before payment of the subsidy, so this investor did not get a single Crown of the subsidy. STOREHOUSE FOR FOLLOWERS Even one of the town councillors promotes the town’s solar policy with collectors on his roof. You can found modules on the roof of deputy mayor Mr Ivan Palán as well. In addition to supporting individuals, however, the Town Hall has supported 11 collectors for an elementary school and a few smaller installations for the town gamekeeper’s house, the asylum house and a collecting yard. It has even supported larger systems for an orphanage and newly on the roof of the hospice. The city converts the public to renewable energy as well as by organizing the annual festival of solar technologies at the square. PS: In the ten years of the town’s supporting renewable energy, 170 installations with a total collector area of solar thermal installations of some 1,000 m2 and 420 kWp of photovoltaic output were created (but PV is not supported by local grants). However, as the first one in the country Litomerice now plan another ambitious project: greater use of geothermal energy in the central borehole. Jiri Dvorak, June 2010

PHOTO : © LEA

$ Solar thermal installation (132 kW) on the roof of a primary school in The Solar Garden of Bohemia

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY large CITIES

Ulm (117,081 inhab., Germany)

Sun power to the people

h Solar art is one manifestation of the will of the city to develop renewable energy

Ulm won the RES Champions League in 2010 in the division of large cities and is still the leading large city in the German Solarbundesliga. In 2010, about 13 MW in PV power were installed in Ulm. In September 2011, one and a half year later the city has reached about 31 MW. Other renewable energy sources are used in Ulm: solar thermal collectors with 15 000 square meters, one big biomass plant is also running. And end of the year, the local utility will start a new one with wood coming from the region.

$ From every point of view in Ulm: the Ulmer Münster cathedral and photovoltaic panels

PHOTOS : © CITY OF ULM

$ Even the touristic boats are fitted with photovoltaic panels on their roof

The success for renewables didn’t come over night. Some people in Ulm have worked on this since decades. Some years ago, the city council initiated and established a foundation, the “Solarstiftung Ulm/Neu-Ulm”. The aim is to make the further development of renewable energy independent from the money, which the city has in its pocket. That’s why the city has a support system for the citizens who want to install solar panels on the roofs of their houses. And there are various opportunities for the citizens to get information around renewables. Andreas Witt, Solarthemen

CzEstochowa (240,600 inhab., Poland) Energy policy as a priority in the municipality’s development Czestochowa is a city located in southern Poland, on the Cracow-Czestochowa Upland. It is the 13th biggest city in the country regarding the population with 250 000 inhabitants. For many years, a precisely planned and consistently implemented long-term set of actions is the basis for rational use of energy in the Municipality of Czestochowa. Since 2003, realization of these actions is supervised by Municipal Engineer who manages the office which coordinates realization of tasks related to electricity, heat and gas supply, collective water supply, collective sewage disposal and municipal lighting. Thanks to such actions Czestochowa managed to achieve in the period 20042009 significant reductions in expenses related to energy and water consumption and sewage disposal. Here are for instance the savings achieved for the group of 121 educational centres: - energy and fuels consumption in 2009 came to 54.190 MWh and was lower by 18.500 MWh (which is 25,5%) in comparison with the year 2003, - CO2 emission in 2009 came to 24.420 Mg and was lower by 7.800 Mg (which is 24,1%) in comparison with the year 2003, - water consumption was reduced from 202,6 ths m3 in 2003 to 128 ths m3 in 2009 (reduction by 36,8%). The effectiveness of Czestochowa’s energy policy is increasing also due to investments in thermomodernization of buildings and energy saving measures: thermal retrofit of seven educational centres combined with modernization of their heat sources, modernization of heat distribution centres in 41 buildings and of boiler houses in six educational centres, modernization of street lighting consisting in replacement of about 3 000 lighting fittings and lighting sources (which also had positive influence on the quality of lighting and the level of safety in public places). At present, a thermomodernization of 39 multi-family buildings is being carried out. It includes replacing coal-fired boilers with gas-fired ones. Moreover, thanks to the support of the municipality, the citizens managed to modernize 856 old coal-fired boiler houses. The inhabitants of Czestochowa installed modern and ecological heat sources and 25 sets of solar collectors. In Czestochowa various renewable energy sources are used, including: - biogas : used for electricity production at the municipal waste landfill site (three generators with combined capacity of 2650 kW), as well as at the sewage treatment plant (power generating set with a capacity of 829 kW); - biomass : used at Agricultural Production Cooperative “Rzasawa” (straw-fired boiler house with a capacity of about 500 kW) and at the Czestochowa Match Industry Factory (biomassfired boiler with a capacity of 1300 kW); - hydro energy : used for electricity production in a small hydro power plant located at the Kucelinka river (capacity: 75 kW);

- solar energy : used for preparation of warm usable water at the Voivodeship Specialist Hospital of St. Mary the Virgin. Total area of the collectors, which are part of the solar installation, comes to 1495 m²; - wind energy : used for electricity production in 2 wind power plants with the capacity of 125 KW each. Moreover, the construction of a new Fortum CHP plant (120 MW of thermal capacity and 64 MW of electrical capacity) is almost finished. Biomass will constitute 25% of the feedstock for the plant. Proper electricity management by the Municipality of Czestochowa is also guaranteed by implementation of actions related to supplying municipal buildings with energy. The city has, regularly updates and implements „The assumptions of the plan for supplying the City of Czestochowa with heat, electricity and gas fuels”. Since 2008, Czestochowa launches calls for tenders for electricity supply to municipal buildings, which brings measurable financial benefits for municipal budget. In three buildings of the Czestochowa City Council, there is also a system for on-line monitoring of heat, electricity and water consumption. It enables current control of the consumption and quick reaction when failures or irregularities are identified. Since 2007, a Council for the Sustainable Development of the City’s Energy Economy operates in Czestochowa, which proves that the city conducts its energy policy according to modern trends. The Council is an innovative platform of cooperation between energy companies, local authorities and representatives of the world of science. As multidimensional education of citizens is a condition for proper use of energy resources in the municipality, Czestochowa launched special internet website: “Energy and environment” (www.czestochowa.energiaisrodowisko.pl). It teaches how to save energy, increase energy efficiency and promotes environmental protection. Using the website Czestochowa ensures appropriate level of ecological awareness of its inhabitants and contributes to the creation of civil society, which actively participates in the process of taking decisions related to sustainable development of local energy economy, municipal energy planning and environmental protection. Enterprises in the field of energy and environmental management realized by Częstochowa, as well as results of its local energy policy, gained recognition of the President of Energy Regulatory Office and the specialists from the branch. They may serve as an excellent example for other local authorities. In 2009 Czestochowa received “New Impulse” award for its engagement in actions promoting energy-saving technologies, shaping citizens energy awareness and taking up pioneering action at the energy market. The award is granted by “New Industry” economic monthly magazine. Marcin Biernat, Deputy Mayor of Czestochowa, june 2010

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY large CITIES

Grenoble (158,746 inhab., France):

A city with positive energy

h Solar photovoltaic modules integrated on the roof of the Stadium of the Alpes in Grenoble

With regards to renewable energy production, the two key actors in the city of Grenoble, both of which are partly publicly owned, are the gas and electricity company ‘Gaz et Electricité de Grenoble’ and the heating company, ‘Compagnie de Chauffage’. In 2008 alone, 28 000 tons of greenhouse gases were avoided thanks to the urban heating system at Villeneuve. Burning 35,000 tons of wood creating 35 MW of energy, this power station is the most powerful biomass plant dedicated to district heating in France. The heating company ‘Compagnie de Chauffage’, managing the second leading regional district heating in France, achieved 50% of its heat through waste incineration and renewable energy. This achievement meant that the VAT rates for this company were lowered for customer’s bills from 19.6% to 5.5% at the end of 2009. From the winter of 2010-2011, a new investment will allow fuel to be substituted by gas on another site in the ‘Cie de Chauffage’, allowing a further 3,200 tons of CO2 to be saved. The city is supporting the competitive cluster Tenerrdis (that works solely on new energy and renewable energy) alongside many research projects and experiments into solar photovoltaic, hydroelectricity, fuel cells, hydrogen storage and intelligent

energy ‘Smart Electricity’. At the end of 2009, 500 kWc of solar photovoltaic panels were connected to Grenoble’s electricity network. The gas and electricity company in Grenoble ‘Gaz Électricité de Grenoble’ has installed over 800 m2 of solar PV panels on the low-energy consuming building named ‘the reflections of Drac’ (‘Les Reflets du Drac’) (situated in the ecodistrict of Bouchayer-Viallet) and installed close to 1000 m2 on the future commercial space in De Bonne district. The city of Grenoble is not solely focused on renewable energy production, heavily investing in many other areas that will allow it to save energy: • Buildings : a local program for the improvement of the energy efficiency of buildings in the ‘Grands Boulevards’ district, applying low energy consumption standards for new buildings. There was also a Biennale for sustainable housing. • Town planning : an ecodistrict was made out of the concerted urban development area (ZAC) in the following districts: ‘De Bonne’, ‘Bouchayer-Viallet’, ‘Esplanade’ and ‘Presqu’île’. • Transport : four, with a fifth coming very soon, tram lines covering a total distance of 33 km, a pro-cycling policy with over 80 km of dedicated cycle paths and 31.5 km of roads with a speed limit of 30km per hour. Grenoble’s dedication has been widely recognized through a number of prizes it received in 2009: • National Grand prize of ecodistricts for the concerted urban development area (ZAC) in the De Bonne neighbourhood. • The Rubans Laureat for sustainable development for its ‘Grenoble, Factor 4’ project • Gold prize (guidon d’or) for its cycling campaign ‘réflexe vélo’ • Winner of the solar category and wood-energy category in the French Renewable Energy League. CLER

PHOTOS : this page : © CITY Of grenoble - next page : © LEA

In September 2008, the city of Grenoble (France) outlined 30 concrete actions as part of the wider plan called “Grenoble, Factor 4” which aims to cut the city’s greenhouse gas emissions in four, confirming its commitment to climate and energy issues. Two years later, a mid-term report was delivered on the 18th October 2010 at the municipal board meeting.

Pilsner (165,238 inhab., Czech Republic):

ONCE Again on a sun throne Not only Pilsner beer but also a rise of solar systems counts to growing renown of the town A West Bohemia region capital Pilsner (with 165 000 inhabitants the fourth largest town in the Czech Republic) has became an honoured champion during the six years of the Czech solar league existence. In the final ranking of the 6th season of the Czech solar league (2010), Pilsner scored with 1106 m2 of thermal collectors, 63 m2 vacuum collectors, and 971 kWp of photovoltaic installations. The sustainable energy policy of the town has been based on well thought out concept. This concept was the very first one in terms of towns with the same status within the administrative governmental system. Points received as a result of an increase of thermal systems area or of photovoltaic installations power do not mostly result from a spontaneous flow of applications to the competition submitted by inhabitants. In fact, most of the applications are submitted by František Kůrka, who is responsible for energy issues at the town hall energy office. This is rather exceptional approach in the Czech solar league as most town halls do not take this responsibility. Pilsner also has been a good example of the fact that interest in solar systems, as well as in other renewable resources, can be supported “bottom-up” by subsidies from town budget. “In the last year, our program of subsidies provided 2200 CZK/1 m2 (about 88 EUR) in the case of thermal collectors installations,” says František Kurka. “We did not support photovoltaic installations last year (but we did in previous years). At the end of the day, we financially supported 16 thermal collectors installations (total area 120,2 m2). The town paid in subsidies about 250000 CZK (average 16320 CZK per installation).” This amount covers only about 1/7 of the total costs of an installation assigned for hot water production for an average family. However, together with other (governmental) subsidies, in total the subsidies can cover more than half of the costs. People in Pilsner are sorry that for the current year, due to the economic crisis, subsidies have not been approved. For all that, there are many interesting solar systems installations in Pilsner, which definitely will henceforth inspire many people. Let’s mention just h S olar power plant (20 kWp) on the roof of the West Bohemia University attracts attention of participants of the LEA’s field trips

h The biggest biomass cogeneration unit in the CR, which burns the waste wood and other biomass

one of them. A roof of the technical university has been for a long time a great example of various kinds of solar installations – one can see here a broad range of installations starting with “solo” thermal panels on one hand, and ending with photovoltaic installation (20 kWp) on the other hand. The most interesting installation of 2009 is located on a roof of a residential house at Resslova street. On the roof you can be seen not only collectors (18 m2, 800 litres tank) but also photovoltaic installation (5 kWp), and a unique combined, watercooled photovoltaic installation (2 kWp). Water cooling not only increases power output of the power station itself but besides that thermal effluent produced during cooling process preheats supply water in collector, and produced electricity is used to finalize water heating process. Thus, there was a good reason to bring representatives of the Czech solar league participants to the spot to demonstrate these interesting results. The League of Ecological Alternatives, which runs the Czech Solar League, organized a tour to Pilsner within a local conference in April 2010 as one of many RES Champions League events. Pilsner is famous all over the world for the beer produced in the town. However, potential to inspire people in terms of solar energy is also compelling. There is a lot to see not only for domestic fans of solar and renewable energy. The town also exploits seven cogeneration units, plus another one on the way, among which the largest installation in the country producing 10,3 MW electricity and 35 MW thermal, burning waste wood and other biomass. Karel Merhaut, LEA

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

The RES Champions League showed

which way Europe walks on! The green energy projects‘ exchange in Prague was crowned with the announcement of the winners of RES Champions League, season 2. Eight hours long “marathon” with the most frequent words “solar energy”, “biomass energy”, “renewable energy sources” (RES); more than 120 participants; 30 speakers; a display of 10 projects supported by Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) program, which municipalities can draw from; 12 representatives of the most successful municipalities from 7 European countries; a photographing of champions on the PV roof of the National Theatre service building; a projection of documentary films about RES Champions League winners in a real cinema; an evening informal and friendly discussion; a following excursion along solar top-projects in Prague and its neighbourhood … - this is a brief review of the conference, which took place in the Czech Parliament on 2nd June 2011. “Right in the context of what Czech NGOs call the “dark age” of renewable energy, we considered it necessary to organize directly in the political bastion of our country a full day exchange on the best projects of European municipalities in the field of renewable energy, which were popularized by the RES Champions League

and other sustainable energy projects supported by the IEE program,” says Aleš Lisa, President of LEA. The conference named “Top-RES projects in municipalities - inspiration, perspectives, barriers” was held under the patronage of Mr. Milan Štovícek, the Chairman of the Environment Committee, Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the Czech Republic. Champions in the four divisions of the RES Champions League, from German municipalities Kronprinzenkoog, Crailsheim and Reutlingen and Italian municipality Brunico, as well as representatives of other eight municipalities on the 2nd or 3rd places in each division, excelled with the achieved level of the RES utilization. They showed, which energy way front-runner EU “players” walk. And what was the main benefit of a generously conceived “RES festival” in Prague? It was a contribution to another positive wave of interest for this future energetic sector – both in the organising country, which takes hard time, and in other seven countries involved in the competition. Even of course in farther European countries, which are permanently invited to join the movement, in accordance with the established competition’s motto “Play the game, play now!”. Karel Merhaut, LEA, June 2011

$ Municipality representatives awarded during the 2nd ceremony in Prague, June 2011

Division

European champions

General ranking : all sizes

1st : Kronprinzenkoog (Germany) 2nd : Nagypáli (Hungary) / 3rd : Dobbiaco (Italy)

Small cities : from 5,000 to 19,999 inh.

1st : Brunico (Italy) 2nd : Szczawnica (Poland) / 3rd : Chepelare (Bulgaria)

Medium cities : from 20,000 to 99,999 inh.

1st : Crailsheim (Germany) 2nd : JindRichUv Hradec (Czech Republic) / 3rd : Chambéry (France)

Large cities : more than 100,000 inh

1st : Reutlingen (Germany) 2nd : Bolzano (Italy) / 3rd : Bydgoszcz (Poland)

PHOTOS : © LEA

2011 European champions

PHOTOS : ÂŠ LEA

h Champions of the division LARGE CITIES

h Champions of the division GENERAL RANKING

h Champions of the division SMALL CITIES

h Champions of the division MEDIUM CITIES

h PV folio on the roof of the National Theatre service building in Prague

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY general ranting

Kronprinzenkoog (882 inhab., Germany)

A tourist village produceS green energy

h The people in Kronprinzenkoog belong to the pioneers who have use wind energy since 1983. Now they are building new and bigger turbines instead of the old ones.

Mayor Thomas Masekowitz, who works as a policeman, was very enthusiastic about the event: „This connects the whole village.“ Many of the inhabitants joined the preparation to make the event a success. And instead of the usual one-day event, the people in Kronprinzenkoog made it a three-day event. Starting with a bicycle ride around energy projects, followed by an ’energy’ cinema in a big barn and the award ceremony. This event culminated by visits of installations. Three full days were conceived „in the service of the Sun“. This was supplemented by a company exhibition so that people from the whole region could get information about renewable energy technologies. Masekowitz and his companions want to reach out beyond their own borders. So they join renewable energy and tourism. For the people from Kronprinzenkoog, wind turbines do not represent a headache, but now a natural part of their landscape. And maybe some tourists even come just because of the turbines. In the neighbouring community Kaiser-Wilhelm-Koog was built between 1983 and 1987 the largest wind turbine in the world then (the Growian). Unfortunately, it became a failure, due to material problems that were not to be solved back in the 80’s. Nevertheless, the region stayed a cradle of German wind power generation. Shortly after the dismantling of the Growian, the first commercial wind farm with 32 small wind turbines was

developed there. And it was the villagers who invested here, not only foreign financiers. Masekowitz emphasizes, even now when three „citizen“ (invested together by people) wind power parks were „repowered“ – the turbines of the first generations were replaced with the modern multimegawatt machines – 140 persons from Kronprinzenkoog and the municipality itself contributed to the investment. About a year later, in 1989, the first wind turbines were installed in Kronprinzenkoog. By 1996, reports Masekowitz, 77 wind turbines were built with a capacity of 150 to 500 kW. The repowering started in 2009: the small turbines are replaced by 39 much more efficient wind turbines with a capacity of 2 to 3 MW. Already the wind turbines in Kronprinzenkoog feed in about 200 million kWh – enough for the needs of 50,000 German households. Kronprinzenkoog is located on the North Sea coast in northern Germany, about 100 kilometres northwest of Hamburg. Only ten kilometres away the nuclear power plant Brunsbüttel is located. Since 2007, it has not produced electricity. So, Kronprinzenkoog production is an alternative to the nuclear energy. The resort has also a biogas plant with a capacity of 500 kW. And in recent years, solar power with a total of more than 7 MW has been added. A carport is under construction - the mayor would like to embed it in a touristic concept for electric vehicles. He would like to enable tourists to drive from power electric station to station along the entire coast with solar cars. „Tourism projects help us not only to better acceptance of renewable energies,“ says Masekowitz, „but also practically involves the tourists into the idea of a 100-percent supply by renewable energy sources.“ Andreas Witt

PHOTOS : THIS PAGE : © TOWN OF kronpinzenkoog - NEXT PAGE : © VILLAGE OF NAGYPALI

The small community Kronprinzenkoog lives from market gardening, some stock farming, tourism and the production of electricity from renewable energy sources. For several years, it has been in the top group of the Solarbundesliga. And in 2011, on 25 June, the village from Schleswig-Holstein, lying a few kilometres from the coast of the North sea, even organized the nationwide celebration of the solar champions.

Dobbiaco (3292 inhab., Italy)

6 renewable energy sources, even for neighbours The small town of Dobbiaco, in the Province of Bolzano, has installed a mix of six renewable technologies producing electrical and thermal energy able to supply the energy needs of the whole community. Therefore, the council was awarded the title of “100% Renewable City” by the 2008 and 2009 Legambiente Report on Renewable Municipalities. In 2011, it was recognized as one of the most advanced Italian municipalities in the development of renewable energies and local energy policies. Dobbiaco has PV systems on the roofs (1 MW, 12% of it on public buildings), three small hydroelectric power stations (1.2 MW) and a biomass power plant (1.8 MW). The heat is provided by a biomass plant (18 MW) and a biogas plant (132 kW), which cover the needs of all residential, commercial and tourist buildings. Roof collectors with a surface of 1,350 m2 are another source of heating. The strategic decision to build a central heating system was made by the city council, in cooperation with the nearby city of

San Candido. In addition to the coverage of the heat need in Dobbiaco, the heat production meets also 20% of the demand in San Candido. They annually burn 700,000 m3 of biomass (mainly wood waste). Distribution network is 46 km long. The district heating plant is managed by a cooperative society of 500 families and allows consumers to save 50% on their energy bill (in euros). The management company of the Dobbiaco-San Candido biomass plant has always paid great attention to information and training, especially directed at young people. For these reasons, it is possible for some years to visit the district heating biomass plant and follow the didactic excursion on biomass. There are several advantages of using the biomass plant and its connection to a district heating system: better air quality, benefits for local economy restoring the economic attractiveness of traditional activities such as forestry and forest maintenance, control of the phenomenon of the abandonment of mountain through the creation of new jobs, use of waste, energy self-sufficiency. Dobbiaco has the title of ’100% Renewable City’ and has also received other awards. The most valuable one is from Eurosolar, which under lines the form of a local partnership and ownership of RES sources from view of real independence. Legambiente

Nagypáli (448 inhab., Hungary)

Small but strong… and stronger every day! Nagypáli seems to be the perfect village to set as an example for every settlement not only in Hungary but in all Europe regarding sustainability, renewable energy use and prospective thinking. This year brought the international and national acknowledgment as well (2011 European RES Champions League and 2011 Hungarian Solar League awards) of the efforts the devoted Mayor and citizens of Nagypáli made in the last ten years to develop their village by promoting solar and biomass energy use. As part of its program of economic development, which heeds the usage of RES, they built the regional renewable energy centre with a 140 m2 solar collector surface and a 32 kW biomass boiler. In total, the village has a solar thermal collector surface of 316 m2, 5 kW photovoltaic capacity and biomass use of 82 kW capacity. In 2009, the municipality created a 2 ha energy

plantation – initially with experimental purposes – of Japanese willow, which has a brown coal competing heating value, contains only 15% ash and could provide heating for approximately 10 houses in one heating season. The municipality is convinced that energy willow is a potential alternative for rapeseed, as it is easy to plant, grow and requires less labour and machine work. They plan to install a 35 kW photovoltaic plant and use the produced electricity to light public buildings and street-lighting. Lately Nagypáli has become an eco-touristic destination, groups with different backgrounds (staff from other municipalities, mayors, school groups, university students and foreign tourists as well) come here to learn from their example and to get to know sustainable technologies. The increasing number of inhabitants of mainly younger generations shows that dynamic development can be achieved applying new technologies and with the committed work open minded leaders and communities. Energy Club

$ Biosolar system in the municipal house of Nagypáli

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY small CITIES

Brunico (13,370 inhab., Italy)

Energy self-sufficient town for electricity and heat The town of Brunico is located in the region of Val Pusteria in South Tyrol. 5 different renewable technologies produce here more electricity and heat than residents need. Brunico received the award „100% Renewable City“ from the non-profit organization Legambiente. The thermal solar systems with a surface of 840 m2 meet the demand of householders and hotels. But the greatest contribution to energy is the 450 km long local heating network with a 9 MW biomass plant and a 1.5 MW biogas plant. Another big achievement of the council is the heating system in the School Centre. Vacuum tube collectors cover an area of 750 m2, also includes 3 under-ground tanks of large capacity. The system uses low temperature radiators and a underfloor heating system. Enlightened local authority also distributes photovoltaic panels on the roofs of the buildings, now they produce an output of more than 3 MW. It covers the electricity needs of 1,500 families. The panels are placed also on the roof of the elementary school and the fire station. These two systems with an output of 32 kW and 64 kW make the building energy independent. The variety of energy sources is also documented by three mini-hydroelectric plants totalling 4.4 MW and a 46.3 MW old hydroelectric plant (but this one is not counted in the determination of 100% renewable city dossier for Legambiente). The Council had the commitment to continue investing into the

hP hotovoltaic plant on the roof of the fire brigade in Brunico

RES, through the “Building Regulations” drawn up in 2010. They establish that new public and private buildings has to cover the 25% of total energy requirements of the building or not less than 50% of energy requirements for the production of hot water, through the use of renewable sources. The clear direction of Brunico is also confirmed by fact that the solar collectors are even on the roof of the town hall. Katiuscia Eroe

Szczawnica (7,479 inhab., Poland) Curative town nearby Slovakian border Szczawnica won the Polish RES League in its category in 2010 thanks to solar energy use. Already in 2007 municipality representatives decided to use interesting program about climate protection for wholesale installation of solar collectors. The local spatial development plan for the zone of environmental preservation within Natura 2000 areas and National Parks, which cover approx. 97% of the municipality area, rule out the use of other RES. In the health resort, which has to meet specific air, water and soil protection standards, was establi-shed the association „EKO Szczawnica“. Over 400 people joined it. Local authorities precisely defined conditions of participation and timetable of planned activities and Voivodeship Fund for Environmental Protection granted a loan of almost PLN 3.5 million with an interest rate of 4%. The project entitled „Reduction of emissions through RES use by individual and collective consumers with special focus to solar installations“ includes purchase and installation of complete solar systems with total absorption surface of 3,600 m2 and capacity of 2,700 kW. Investment expenditure was PLN 8.4 million. hS olar thermal installations in Szczawnica became a natural component of beautiful landscape

PHOTOS : TOP : © town of brunico - bottom : © Szczawnica archive

Health resort full of solar installations

Residents paid always 40% of the equipment price. Thanks to the tenacity of the local government, the ‘National fund of environmental protection and water management’ also provided resources in addition to the county fund. Avalanche of collectors, which installation were managed by several companies, then flooded not only family houses but also roofs of larger buildings with rental apartments for spa guests and tourists. Even on Solar Spa hotel grew out the system with 103 modules. Finally over 1,500 collectors of total area about 4,000 m2 were installed. This year, Szczawnica scored in the RES Champions

League with 5,430 m2 of collectors. Now its citizens are happy to use hot water from their solar installations and revel that CO2 emissions decreased and the air is much cleaner. But the outcome was also numerous meetings with citizens and members of the association, which grew environmental awareness of public. Even schools were involved in competitions, trainings and seminars. First of this kind and definitely a breakthrough in Poland, this concept has then inspired further municipalities arround, but they have mostly used funds from the European Union for their projects. Ekoszczawnica

Chepelare (5,646 inhab., Bulgaria)

PHOTOS : © ABEA

On its way to clean energy

h Biomass boilers in Chepelare

h Wood chips supply of the boilers

Chepelare is a small resort town at an elevation of about 1,100 meters surrounded by 30,000 ha of forests. It has become one of the leading ski resorts in Bulgaria recently. There is snow for about half a year and the heating season lasts 250 days. A wood chips producer is settled here, who works biomass from logging and furniture industry. Therefore the municipality has set the ambitious goal of replacing heating systems in all municipal schools and kindergartens in order to switch from oil to biomass heating.

safety system. An additional pipe connecting the energy cabin with the existing pipe network of the internal heating installation has been built. The efficiency of the new boiler is 85%. The kindergarten consumes now 112 t of wood chips per year worth 8,300 EUR. The reduction of all energy bills is 22,000 EUR /year and CO2 emission savings are 86 t/year. The payback period of this investment will be very short: 2.2 years.

The realisation of this goal started in the kindergarten Elhitsa. The heating volume of the building is 3,637 m3. It services for 84 children plus 26 teachers and support personnel. The kindergarten consumed 24 tons of heavy fuel oil worth almost 20,000 EUR before. The challenge in this project was that the building did not have enough space to accommodate a boiler room. The boiler and the ancillary equipment have therefore been situated in a 20 m3 metal container with thermal insulation – an „energy cabin“. The hot water boiler with an output of 271 kW is equipped with an automated fuel-feeding device and fire

After the success of the kindergarten project the municipality replaced old boiler in the Professional School of Forestry as well. The wood chips boiler has an output of 230 kW. The total cost savings will be 24,000 EUR/year and CO2 emission savings will be 104 t/year. The investment costs 66,000 EUR will be paid-back again very fast - in 2.8 years. The town continues with the replacement of heating systems in a local hospital, city hall and two kindergartens. The total installed output in these facilities is more than 1 MW… Milena Agopyan

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY Medium CITIES

Crailsheim (32,574 inhab., Germany)

Sun heats the housing estate in winter as well Among the smaller cities in the German Solarbundesliga, the award was won six times in a row by Neckarsulm, but since summer 2008 the number one has been Crailsheim, Baden-Würtemberg. It deserves so due to the city energy utility (Stadtwerke Crailsheim). Besides private entrepreneurs and an agile company, the person in behind is Mr Josef Wagner, the company General Manager. It was the initiator of one of the largest thermal installation in Germany – having collectors with area of 7,500 m2! h Big solar thermal installations are situated on the noise protection wall

The project is outstanding by its huge seasonal storage facilities to store energy of summer time sun for winter time. The company has been installing the system at the housing estate Hirtenwiesen II since 2005. Ms Eva Réhu of Crailsheim utility says: „Formerly there was a military airport here – the long-distance heating network was already there. The idea to produce a huge amount of solar energy for the same purpose was created simultaneously with the idea to use the noise-control barrier separating the housing estate from the industrial zone.“

created in the depth up to 55 metres. Their number shall increase to 160 from the today 80. They shall provide storage capacity of 20,000 m3! Besides the main project, which involves two heat pumps (530 kW each), Crailsheim utilises other RES as well. It has a wind power station (1.5 MW), biogas station (1 MW), and a hydropower station (42 kW). The photovoltaic has been developing well, nowadays there are over 10 MW installed in the city...

Collectors on the mound, yet others with surface area of 400 m2 each are also placed on five residential buildings, on the grammar school (530 m2) and on a sports hall (220 m2), and produce roughly half of heat energy necessary for heating and hot water production for 470 dwellings, school and hall.

The heat supplier is also the only business partner in the European project of MUSEC, which initiate the development of sustainable energy supply and associate solution designers from Italy, Netherlands, Demark and Bulgaria. The company also plans a unit, which has to recycle wastewater treatment sludge.

„Solar energy will serve two thousand people here,“ says E. Réhu. Because of three huge thermal accumulators it may be used in winter time as well. For the purpose, lime sediments were employed, in which an accumulator based on ground wells was

The newly installed Mayor Mr Rudolf Michl is convinced that the city will become self-sufficient on energy one time. Lars Schulz, Ina Röpcke, Andreas Witt

A popular town amid nature’s beauty of the south of Bohemia – Jindrichuv Hradec – has registered 856 m2 thermal systems in the solar league. These are applications of assembly companies and of citizens. The Town Hall does not summarise additions of solar installations for the league. It in active manner, however, rather supports biomass-fired heating plants, which supply heat to a great deal of the town. The pride of the City is a ’thermal installation’ on top of the swimming pool, which is one of the largest in the Czech Republic with its 284 m2. It was supplemented with photovoltaic equipment (30 kW). In the developed areas small warm water systems on family houses, which were subsidised by the state till the last year, prevail by large. There are a lot of photovoltaic power stations (7 MW) here. „Because the City is covered by protection of historical monuments, allocating of solar sources is rather difficult,“ explains Mr Bohumil Krejcí, Head of the Planning and Building Control and Land-Use Plan Department of the City Authority. ’We therefore enabled to place them on areas not important for views and on the outskirts.’

For cleaner air in the city, they facilitated a contribution for the purchase of a biomass gasification boiler for citizens, when replacing a fossil fuelfired source, as one of the first ever many years ago. Simultaneously to the project of so-called Energocentrum, an investment subsidised by CZK 100 million (i.e. 70% of its price) from the EU-PHARE pro-gramme, the City Energy Concept of Jindrichuv Hradec was developed. It was a complete document involving a feasibility study and a proposal of biomass as a prospective source of heat for the whole city heat network. The network is operated by the company of Teplospol, which has an up-to-date biomass-fired heating plant with output of 6 MW, where wood chips are employed as fuel. In 2008 an up-to-date cogeneration source, until recently the largest one in the Czech Republic, was put on stream in Energo-centrum, besides a backup heavy oil-fired boiler bearing troubles with flue gas. There is a packed-straw-fired boiler with output of 18.5 MW there. The portion of output of 5.6 MW is dedicated to electricity generation. The current owner of the plant, the company of CEZ, supplies heat from there into the network of Teplospol. If all biomass sources are heating at full capacity they are able to cover up to 80 % of the city heat needs. „Trouble is that wood chips have become deficient and their quality has been worsening as well,“ says Mr. Zdenek Svacina, Director of

PHOTO : © city of crailsheim

JindRichUv Hradec (22,300 inhab., Czech Republic): Bet on biomass secured by a solar portfolio

h One of the biggest solar thermal systems in the CR (284m2) supplemented with PV system (30kW) on the roof of the swimming pool

Teplospol. „Higher quality and drier wood chips can be delivered for a higher price to the heating plant in Gmünd, Austria. Operators of similar heating plants, which are many in the area, compete to our plant regarding the purchase of wood fuel that they collect even from a distance of 70 km.“ The fuel is also bought up and overpaid by large-energy industry plants for co-firing with coal in coal-fired power plants, for which they may, despite their low effectiveness of combustion, claim subsidised price for electricity – against common sense. Jindrichuv Hradec would rather got help by an environmentally more precisely reasoned legislation providing subsidies solely to the biomass combustion with

effectiveness of 75 %, at least, than by an expansion of the RES mix utilised. But in the city, they believe that renewable energy systems, pool of which has been recently expanded by a small retrofitted hydropower station with output of 60 kW, will nevertheless grow in number. Although on the solar field, the already one-year-long stop status for the connection of new photovoltaic sources and halting of the Green Savings programme, which was subsidising solar collectors as well, do not indicate that at present. LEA

Chambéry (58,200 inhab., France)

The French pioneer of solar energy now thinks bigger tovoltaic energy. Unfortunately, in the photovoltaic sector, even the best practices of territorial support depend on national decisions. The successive and brutal revisions of feed-in tariffs undermined the implementation of the system. „In France, national authorities always find good reasons to say that we should not go too fast“, states Henri Dupassieux, „whereas Germany installs each year as much photovoltaic power as the cumulated installed power that we intend to reach in 2020 (5,400 MW).“

h Solar photovoltaic plant of «Les Monts» (100 kW): the largest installation in France back in 2004

PHOTOS : TOP : © LEA -BOTTOM : © CLER

Since the creation of the French RES league in 2005, the town of Chambéry (Savoie) stands on the first place in the solar thermal ranking thanks to the total installed surface of 3,800 m2. „Today, there are almost no new buildings or collective housings built without solar thermal panels“, highlights Henri Dupassieux, deputy mayor in charge of sustainable development. This dynamic is promoted by the national institute for solar energy (INES) as well. With the solar plant of Les Monts, Chambéry has been in 2004 one of the first French towns to develop such a large power plant. In order to strengthen its support to the photovoltaic industry (able to create even high skilled jobs), the municipality board then decided to make its own roofs available and to offer a full service - investors identification, organization of a local professional offer (design offices, manufacturers, distributors and installers), writing of legal contracts. The town initiated the creation of the organisation Solira, whose objective is to promote an ethical savings fund dedicated to pho-

Moreover, the town of Chambéry continues the diversification of energies supplying its district heating network. First it was 100% natural gas, then up to 30% of needs where covered by the heat recovery from the waste incineration plant of Chambéry urban area. The objective is to go over the 60% share of renewable and recovered energy by building two wood heating plants. The Croix Rouge plant (7 MW) should start working at the end of 2011 and will use almost 14,000 tons of wood chips yearly; the Bissy plant (14 MW) will use (from 2013) double amount. Such an increase in the demand will allow developing the wood energy supply chain in Savoie. Local energy association ASDER, which organizes wood supply, has supported the project expertly. „Our heating network, which supplies heat to the equivalent of 25.000 housings, is the fifth biggest heating network in France“, Henri Dupassieux adds. „With these realisations, Chambéry will respect from 2013 and for his own energy needs the European objectives of 20% share of renewable energy, 20% decrease of CO2 emissions and 20% decrease in energy consumption“. Additional actions outgoing from the Agenda 21 and from the climate and energy action plan of Chambéry go towards the achievement of these objectives for the whole territory. Yannick Régnier, CLER

04 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY LARGE CITIES

Reutlingen (112,270 inhab., Germany)

Large city advancing to 100% renewable energy When solar cities are discussed in Germany, Reutlingen is not mentioned – there are rather Freiburg or Ulm pointed out. Yet in recent years, the city has been making systematic effort in the RES utilisation. As early as in 1994 the „Energy Table of Patrons“ begun with Reutlingen’s Solar Days. In a year, the Table Club gave birth to the association of Solar Energy of Neckar Alb. And it has been consistently increasing the citizen willingness to use green energy. The City management pulled together with the citizens. For instance, the city had a soccer stadium built as a building saving CO2. If these emissions from this type of buildings are usually around 261 tonnes per year, in this case they managed to reduce it to 37 tonnes. This is also due to a solar power plant (80 kW) integrated into the stadium roof. Another example is swivelling photovoltaic system built by the company Fair Energy, owned by the city, at the swimming pool. The source initiator was Mr Reinhard Braxmeier, representative of the City Hall for the Environment. He explains that they gave a good example to the city inhabitants at this frequently visited place. And installations on 12 schools shall be understood this way as well. The City gets the citizens active. The city pays, for instance, energy advisors who gave hints for free to people at the City Hall on how to save energy. In 2010, they provided over 300 consultancies. And the local energy supplier provides a possibility to participate in the RES utilisation - also in an „offshore“ wind farm on the North Sea coast. At the same time, they have already invested into many such ins-

hE nergy efficient collective housing with photovoltaic panels

tallations in Reutlingen. Up to this day, they installed photovoltaic systems with total output over 13 MW. On the roofs, there are collectors with total surface area of 8 000 m2. Besides there are power plants wood- and biogas-fired and also a hydropower plant. And the City intentionally purchases electricity for the City buildings from these retrofitted hydropower plants. „Now Reutlingen has also got involved in the regional project of the Regions with 100% Renewable Energy“, says Braxmeier. But they will probably not attain this goal before a long time. The city wants, using the ongoing study, to discover, which potentials can still be utilised. Andreas Witt

Bolzano (103,000 inhab., Italy) The combination of 5 renewable energy technologies can be considered as the triumph of Bolzano, which won the Italian Solar Championship and succeeded in RES Champions League. This mix has enabled the community to cover 20% of the residents energy needs. It scores also with the implementations of laws aimed to make the construction sector more efficient.

hE vacuated tubes solar collectors on the roof of a public building in Bolzano

The solar thermal and photovoltaic systems are the most spread technologies in Bolzano. These installations covered the rooftops of many public and private buildings (e.g. company Fiera di Bolzano, whose headquarters hosts 2 plants of 300 kW today). The area has in total 5.4 MW of photovoltaic panels and 5,209 m2 of solar thermal panels. The mix is amended with the biomass heating plant (882 kW) and 2 small systems - geothermic (20

PHOTOS : TOP : © City of Reutlingen - BOTTOM : © Legambiente

The city HIGHLIGHTS sustainable energy and transport

kW) and wind (3.8 kW). In 2005, Bolzano was the first city in Italy to adopt quality standards in terms of energy efficiency with indicators even more restrictive than required by the national law. It adopted a building regulation about compulsory RES utilization in new buildings, which should produce 25% of electric energy and 50% of domestic hot water. Moreover, all new buildings have to be ‘Class B’ according to the energy certificate system ‘Casa Clima’ (it means energy consumption less than 50 kWh/m2/year). The city became an example of sustainable construction. The conferment of the title „Alpine City of the Year 2009“ was the credit for the city involvement in the sustainable development,

the climate protection and the fulfilment of the project „Bolzano neutral climate city“ with the aim to reduce the CO2 emissions thanks to the RES utilization, energy efficiency and sustainable transport. Another project ‘“Agreement for the mobility“ aimed to find new solution to solve the mobility problem in the South Bolzano area through agreements between companies, associations and labour unions contributed to the construction of a new runway and to the introduction of the „Voucher for Transport“, which promotes more sustainable transport services. Katiuscia Eroe

Bydgoszcz (358,000 inhab., Poland)

The city bet on a green energy mix

PHOTOS : © City of Bydgoszcz

h One of the main tourist attractions of the city and a part of the municipal transportation system: water tram «Sunflower» powered by sun

h 10,8 MW steam boilers fuelled with wood waste in „SKLEJKA-MULTI”

h Fuel storehouse located next to the boiler house in Plywood Works „SKLEJKA-MULTI” in Bydgoszcz

Bydgoszcz is a capital and the biggest city of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship. In order to protect its natural values, the city undertakes various ecological activities and conducts environmental education of its inhabitants. Since 2006, the city actively participates in the reduction of emissions and offers subsidy for replacement of coal boilers with ecological ones. It is one of the few Polish cities, which are actively engaged in the realization of the EU climate and energy policy.

a producer of frozen food products installed on the cold store roof the biggest PV system in Poland - 366 modules (total area 600 m2, output 81 kW). The system is fully automatic. Any occurring problems can be resolved remotely through the internet. Whole generated energy is used by the company, which allows saving up to 30% of energy used for refrigeration of the cold store. The investment of 400,000 EUR was from 80% financed with the funds from the Sectional Operational Program „Fishery and fish processing“.

Realization of two new projects relates to it. The aim of the LAKS project is to develop methods of planning, management and fulfilment of obligations related to climate change prevention, as well as to increase awareness and sense of responsibility of local authorities, public and private institutions and citizens. The city developed Climate Protection Programme including activities, which will enable to reduce GHG emissions by 18.7% by 2020 (contrary to the period 2005-2009). They count with RES for heating and promote RES and energy efficiency. The trainings of city councillors, students and businessmen are part of the project too.

There are two water trams as a part of the municipal transportation system (and tourist attraction) powered by PV panels (total area 63 m2, output 9.8 kW). They start at the Fish Market and passengers can choose one of the three routes. Solar energy is also used in Pulmonology Center (area 28 m2, output 27 GJ/ year), in 18 one-family cooperative houses (72 m2) and in one block of flats (126 m2).

Second project („3x20 Network“) gives an opportunity to exchange best practices in the field of energy efficiency policies. It increases citizens’ energy awareness and strengthens their support of ecological actions. Bydgoszcz is also known for the wide use of RES. In May 2009,

In March 2001, Bydgoszcz Plywood Works launched operation of a new biomass power plant with two steam boilers (using wood chips, bark and sawdust) with an output of 5.3 MW each. They installed even multi-cyclones (efficiency up to 98%). Thanks to it, the company is self-sufficient in the field of heat production for technological and heating purposes. Since 2010, the city organizes RES fair, which stimulates development of eco-energy market in Poland and central Europe. Anita Marcinkiewicz, City Hall of Bydgoszcz

h Champions of French 2011 season jumping on a trampoline in the VIP stand of the Stadium of the Alpes, January 2011

PHOTOS : © Atelier Chévara etc. avec Guillaume Boynard

05 NO EUROPEAN CONTEST WITHOUT NATIONAL LEAGUES

Benefits of a RES league for local authorities A RES League (league for renewable sources of energy) is not a goal in itself. The activities undertaken by local authorities are actually at the heart of it. A RES league has a number of benefits for such active villages, towns and cities.

Climate protection concerns everyone, including the local authorities. First of all, they need to know where they stand. The league is an instrument that helps them gain an overview of the present situation. Good news! Results and rankings are an ideal way of getting their activities publicised in the press in a positive way – even if a local authority hasn’t managed to become the national champion! Being one of the top three local authorities in a particular region is certainly a good result as well. Setting a good example. In many villages, a league makes people aware of the solar and wood power systems that exist there for the very first time. It makes it easier for solar or wood plant operators to show the public what they are achieving. Other people then decide to follow these examples and take the “daring” step of investing in a solar or wood power system themselves. Economic upturn. Every litre of oil that does not have to be imported means that the money it would cost remains in the region. The use of renewable sources of energy saves this oil and causes new jobs to be created. Achieving a good ranking in a league enables local authorities to catch people’s attention. After all, don’t businesses prefer to settle in places with the right kind of environment? On the front page. Just how frequently do small towns get a mention on TV or in the national press? And a positive one at that? It’s not likely to be very often. Small boroughs and villages can also step into the limelight now thanks to the league. Part of the RES power community. The league brings people together. Representatives from local authorities meet one another at their own events or pay each other visits. They learn from one another this way. And keeping in touch with other communities participating in the league also has an encouraging effect. This can be achieved if a national organisation takes active control of a league like this – it becomes the engine that drives competition. On the following pages you’ll see exactly what has to be done.

05 NO EUROPEAN CONTEST WITHOUT NATIONAL LEAGUES

Key elements of a RES league THE RULES The rules a league possesses are the yardstick by which comparisons may be made. The evaluation scheme used is important in a RES league. In the existing leagues, the per-capita power or per-capita area of each member of the community has proven to be a good basic standard. On a national scale, weightings chosen for the league depend on the basic situation of the country. How many points should be awarded per watt of solar power per inhabitant? How many points do you get for a meter square of solar heating? The answers to these questions should reflect the situation in the country in question. Every organisation can decide on this itself, but it’s wise to bear the rules in mind that eight countries have now agreed on concerning the RES Champions League. “Keep it simple”: this is a key rule, just as it is in sports. It’s not about scientific accuracy, but about a ranking system that allows comparisons to be made quickly and that is easy for local authorities to implement.

THE DATABASE The RES Champions League website includes a subordinate national page for every national RES league. All data management can be made within the database of the website. However, it is sometimes useful to export data to a spreadsheet program for further external data processing. On the other way, should organisations use an external database for their league, they must definitely be able to exchange data with the database of RES Champions League. Any spreadsheet program is suitable for this task, however special programs for generating databases are better as these allow managing the data more easily and getting a better overview of data.

WHAT DATA IS REQUIRED? WHAT DETAILS SHOULD THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES PROVIDE? Most of the leagues that exist only collect a small range of facts. These include the number of inhabitants living in the city, town or village in question, the surface area of the solar heat collectors installed (divided into glazed and unglazed collectors), the capacity of the PV systems, wood boilers and systems supplied with biomass. In addition, data on large PV plants with a power output of at least 250 kW is also obtained. Individual organisations such as the Czech League for Ecological Alternatives also feel it’s important to gather information about every single system in operation. Newly created leagues in Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland share this point of view and consider that this is the best way to start (until their league is mature and overall data gets collected within municipalities). In these cases, the addresses of every installation

are required. But the experience of the organisers of the German League shows this can be easily done by organisation or people within the cities, town and villages itself, too. In addition to this, the names of the organisations and/or individuals who report the local authorities’ data to the league must be recorded as well. Each local authority has to obtain information about the solar and/or biomass systems running in its own area. This entails a varying amount of effort, depending on the country in question and how much knowledge the local authorities already possess. They can also resort to using national data if needed – owing to a financial support scheme, for instance, or a legal requirement concerning feed-in tariffs. As a rule, however, collecting data is the local authorities’ own responsibility. A special information sheet published by the RES Champions League provides some advice on this issue for authorities.

CONTACT WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES Every organisation has already a specific network of its own. Two groups are particularly relevant for a RES league, and these only partly overlap. One of these is the local-government level. Getting in touch with the local mayor is a good thing, but local NGOs such as renewable energy associations and craftsmen’s associations should also be contacted. In all national leagues, it has proven a wise idea not to let the decision to participate depend solely on local-government decision-makers like mayors or councillors, but also to give other local actors some influence in the matter. Contact with local authorities can be enhanced by offerings that go beyond mere ranking. Seminars on renewable sources of energy held especially for local-authority representatives are also popular, for instance. Even better contact can be achieved by reporting about individual local authorities that set a good example. These may be publicised in an e-mail newsletter, an inhouse magazine or on a specific website. Other local authorities can learn about a league this way at the same time.

NETWORKING A league’s success can be increased by getting in touch with further organisations – both those concerned with local affairs and those connected with renewables. This way, local-government agencies can be brought together with national NGOs that promote renewable energy. The organisation behind a league can thus act as an important link between local authorities and experts from the renewable-energy sector. Both of these actors play a significant role here: on the one hand, local authorities provide an important sphere of action for climate protection, while on the other, there are the organisations that attempt to promote renewable sources of energy. Both groups of players can help to make a league well known. Close contact can be made to selected organisations. The direct organisation of a league should not be borne by too many shoulders, but it does make sense to get other organisations involved and it improves people’s awareness

h Participants to Energy Cities and Climate Alliance annual conference enjoyed the mexican wave animated by project partners

of the league to boot. It’s important to bear in mind that a league is not an end in itself, though; it simply provides local authorities and their players with a forum.

PHOTOS : © Ms Nizette

GETTING THE PRESS INVOLVED A league is an instrument of communication. It gives journalists – and particularly those working in regional media – the opportunity to provide information about renewables on a continuous basis. In general, a new solar power installation will not be newsworthy if earlier systems have already been featured in the press. But if a new one causes a local authority to improve its ranking in a league, then the press can be employed to help achieve this improvement. This is particularly likely to be the case if the journalists in mind are already familiar with the league. Regular presswork is necessary for this, like press releases, press conferences or seminars specifically for journalists. All sorts of occurrences can be the subject of press activities: the start of a league, a call to participate in it shortly towards the end of the season, the one hundredth or 333rd local authority to participate, the first local authority to get x points, and the end of the season and announcement of the winners, of course. If the league’s budget permits, excursions to particularly successful local authorities can make journalists more familiar with the league and the topic of renewable energy; bear in mind, however, that journalists frequently have little time at such events.

THE FINANCIAL SIDE State subsidies and sponsors are by far the largest source of financing for a RES league. It’s not a good idea to charge local

authorities that wish to participate a fee, though, as the hurdles that city, town and village councils have to overcome really ought to be as low as possible. Each organisation has to find out for itself how likely it is to secure a particular source of finance. The experience gained in existing leagues has shown that both things are possible, but support from sponsors doesn’t get drummed up all by itself. Businesses first have to be made aware of the fact that they will be increasing the league’s popularity as a result of their sponsorship and will profit from the goodwill displayed in connection with contests about renewables. It’s the players in local authorities who are the primary target group for a league, so it seems a particularly promising idea to get in touch with businesses that wish to improve their own contacts at the local-government level. For some organisations, however, using their own financial means is probably a more interesting option. They ought to include a 10to 20-hour-a-week position in such cases, along with an additional budget for printed material (e.g. leaflets). It’s likely that the local authorities can be persuaded to make the arrangements for the annual championship celebration.

THE ANNUAL CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRATIONS The length of a season in a RES league is a year, just as it is in sports leagues. Its starting point can be chosen whenever you like, so a season could run from January to December, for example, or from summer to summer. The climax of the season is marked by the annual championship celebration where the top local authorities each receive awards. This is a good opportunity to do some presswork. In particular, it’s a chance for all the localauthority players to be brought together for a pleasant occasion. This way, it’s easy to make some new contacts at an informal level. Situations like these enable the players to learn from one another, and they motivate them as well.

05 NO EUROPEAN CONTEST WITHOUT NATIONAL LEAGUES

The Solarbundesliga is still very popular after more than ten years In September 2011, around 2,100 local authorities took part in the German championship. Only between July and September, nearly 500 new towns and cities came into the league. So even after more than ten years, this championship is very popular.

h To do something for the development of RES can bring fun, too. Here a samba group during the celebration of Solarbundesliga at the fair Intersolar in Munich.

h King Ludwig is very popular in some Bavarian Regions. An singer who personifies Ludwig entertained the auditorium in Rettenbach.

«Initially, it was important to talk with local authorities in person», recalls Andreas Witt, editor-in-chief of Solarthemen. «the number of participants increased steadily in the years that followed.» One reason: anyone who is able to make the requisite figures seem plausible can register a local authority – an action group, a solar power association, a workmen’s association or even the mayor or chairman of the district council in some cases. The advantage of such a flexible rule is that no resolution needs to be passed by the town or city council regarding participation in the league. But meanwhile there are more and more mayors who support the championship. And every year a new city or town declares the invitation for the championship celebration. In 2011, the celebration was organized by Kronprinzenkoog, a small town with 882 inhabitants. And the event they set up was far more than only a celebration: three days with a regional fair on renewables, with live music, with a big solar party. About 2000 people came to this event. Very soon, the cities have accepted Solarbundesliga as a special ranking. So much so that some Federal States now use Solarbundesliga for own campaigns: the governments of Saarland and Rheinland-Pfalz established special rankings for their Federal States in co-operation with the organizers of Solarthemen, including own celebrations and public relations. Indeed, this was one reason for the growing of the league during July and August of 2011. A lot of the new towns taking part in Solarbundesliga are located in RheinlandPfalz. The government of this federal state established one campaign to raise awareness about renewables in their cities and towns. They name it “energie komm” (www.energiekomm.de) and the solar ranking in the federal state is an important part of it. This started in October 2010. Margit Conrad, minister of environment in Rheinland-Pfalz at this time, said her state has the potential to secure 20 percent of its electricity consumption by solar energy. With the help of its solar initiative, Rheinland-Pfalz wants to reach 100.000 roofs with photovoltaic systems on it. And for the federal state, Solarbundesliga is one instrument to motivate the cities and towns to be part of this movement. For most towns, it’s not that important to be at the top in the national ranking of the Solarbundesliga. Like in soccer, they compete themselves with towns in the same region. And there are even examples of special derbies between cities. Unsurprisingly that some regional championships have been established under the roof of Solarbundesliga, e.g. the regional championship of Allgäu, Aller-Leine-Tal or the region of FrankfurtRheinMain. Suitable regional entities are welcome and encouraged to organise a

h One game at the celebration in Bürstadt: the participants constructed ducks made by hand brushes and powered by a small pv module

The first national league for renewable energy was started in 2001 in Germany: the «Solarbundesliga», or National Solar League. Initially, the editors of a trade journal called Solarthemen («solar topics») only had a simple ranking system in mind for the solar power systems installed in cities, boroughs and districts. The editors had been asked to make such a comparison by some local councillors, and it met with a great deal of interest in towns and villages alike. Dozens of local authorities got involved very quickly. Within just a few months of the league taking off, the ranking process had turned into a fully blown contest, and the German environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe soon became its co-organizer. So it was that the title of «Champion of the National Solar League» came to be awarded for the first time in the summer of 2001.

h The winners at the celebration in Rettenbach am Auerberg. Mechtild Rothe, at this time vice president of the European Parliament, came for this event to Bavaria

regional championship in co-operation with Solarbundesliga. As well as on the level of the federal states, specific public relations regarding these championships or the organisation of special events are possible on the regional level: the different entities are responsible for the local animation. The aim is to have a competition on different levels. Every town should have the chance to come in a good position. This can be a big motivation for more action regarding renewables in towns and cities. There are city councils in Germany, which explained that they established a local financial support for solar systems because they wanted to come in a higher position in the ranking of Solarbundesliga. This was the case in Lohne for example. The city council of Fürth decided a few years ago to invest 500.000€ in an own photovoltaic system. In the decision is to read that one argument was to get in the top ranking of Solarbundesliga. Of course, for persons in charge of the city, this was not the only nor the most important reason for such an investment. But it seems to be a popular argument. Cities, which are doing something to push renewables, can attract attention with the help of Solarbundesliga. And there are a lot of examples that German cities are using Solarbundesliga to promote themselves. The German government also noticed this. Solarbundesliga is mentioned in the German National Renewable Energy Action Plan in accordance with Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (page 41). Solarbundesliga is therefore recognised by the German government as an instrument to reach the aims of ”3x20”. But Solarbundesliga is not a big organisation itself. In the last years, this championship was organised by Guido Bröer & Andreas Witt GbR, a small publishing company with its publication Solarthemen (www.solarthemen.de). They couldn’t invest a lot of money in this championship. So what is reached now is the

result of a continuous work with cities and towns. The publishers have never planned to run this championship about ten or more years. But until cities and towns like it, the Solarbundesliga will survive! Solar energy in Germany is popular. And it’s easy to compare cities and towns with this simple index: watts or square meters per inhabitant. For German cities and towns, this makes a big difference compared to other renewables. Of course, a lot of renewable sources are used in German cities and towns. But it’s not that popular to compare them with other renewables in a special ranking. There are only a few German cities and towns in the wood ranking established within the framework of the RES Champions League. Although the organisers of Solarbundesliga have mentioned this ranking in special newsletters, press releases, publications like Solarthemen and Solarthemen:kom and on the website, no particular interest has been raised in the cities and towns to take part in this other ranking. Biomass is not an easy topic for such a straightforward communication based on the principle of Solarbundesliga ranking in Germany. On the one hand, bio resources are use in German cities and towns in a lot of different ways. But on the other hand, there is a lively debate in Germany on how to use biomass in a sustainable way. For a lot of people in Germany, it’s obviously not the right thing to connect this ambitious discussion with a simple ranking. However, as other renewables (firstly biomass) were included in the RES Champions League, all German cities and towns were also willing to inform about the progress they made in pushing the use of solar, wind, hydro, geothermal energy and biomass. Representatives of municipalities who took part in the European events really liked to share experiences with their European counterparts. Andreas Witt, Solarthemen

05 NO EUROPEAN CONTEST WITHOUT NATIONAL LEAGUES

Uneven fight of whistles... and the Czech league fiTNess It sounds in its sound logo; sounded in chorus instead of praise fanfares in honour of the first year of the Czech solar league champions (when the League for Ecological Alternatives (LEA) gave whistles to the jury and audience as well); echoed during the kick-off of the Czech biomass league, which establishment was a demand for the participation of the Czech Republic on the project RES Champions League; and whistles nearly “demonstrated” in the Czech Parliament on 2nd June 2011 during the championship celebration of the 2nd season of the RES Champions League and during its prelude, when the NGOs criticized the government policy that oppresses RES where it can. Nevertheless, LEA at least tried to explain to foreigners that it is embarrassing how our government in the role of referee “signalled” (read: stopped with restrictions) renewable energy sources (RES) boom in the country. Its imaginary blasts in the field of clean energy, going in the opposite direction of European trends, had the character of “unfairly imposed penalty” (e.g. retroactive taxation amounting to 26 % of capital gains from solar power plants with an output of over 30 kW, which now faces action for damages and arbitrations). Yes, during its workshops, excursions, local conferences, national workshops, in the national news on its sites, in its magazine “Solárko” and in the other media, LEA described and seriously commented, primarily positive and then negative, what was happening in the RES field. Czech and European leagues came to enliven the debate. A very attractive and successful example was the granting of the title “Jumper of the year”, awarded with a plushy frog for the municipality, which jumped most in the ranking during the year. But primarily competition and presentation of attractive news and viewpoints were concerned. So it certainly has not been left with whistles only...

Tipping with pellets Bringing people into the game with the theme of renewable energy sources - that was the goal of happening during the fair Biostyl in May 2009, where LEA kicked-off the first season of the Czech biomass league. From the stage, LEA briefly explained, what the Czech and European leagues are, what the small and large municipal wood boilers are, what sorts of fuel people can use. A special focus was made on wood pellets, which people can use at home in automatic biomass boilers. Then “hostesses” served pellets in plastic pots to the audience. People should not only look closer at them but also use them for a remarkable poll. They were supposed to put, from their own perspective, as many pellets into glass cylinders with the flags of RES Champions League participating countries as they gave them chances to be at the top ranking of the European competition during the first

season. Present public cheered for the national colours stronger than was possible reality so the Czech cylinder was filled earlier than the German one and both were filled again. Czech chances were finally evaluated the highest. The head of the “Greens” and freshly ex-Minister of the Environment Martin Bursík, who was the main initiator of the law about support of RES utilization in the Czech Republic, commented the results of the poll. He reminded the unprecedented success of the Germans in the expansion of ecological energy, making them a super-favourite of the competition. Then, Pavlína Voláková, the only director-woman of a municipal heating plant in the country, started with the ceremonial kickoff of the biomass league – how else, with the whistles’ fanfare again. LEA concluded by giving a lot of awards to the audience : solar powered toys, organic food and small hemp plants (here as a reminder of the range of possible environmental benefits from it – e.g. just as straw bales or pellets into the boilers!).

hP oll held during the kick-off of the Czech biomass league: the most pellets for the favorite candidate countries, May 2009

PV helicopters score always and everywhere How and which way a simple explanation of the “clean energy from the sun” can be given? Every member of LEA team which found himself face to face with some children discovering solarpowered toys can tell it. Traditionally helicopters with a small PV collector, which rotates the propeller, have the greatest success. Everyone is wondering how it works even if the sun is behind the clouds. Such a simple pedagogical tool should have been “compulsory” in every school and kindergarten for a long time. Then understanding of possibilities and principles of clean energy could be in Czech Republic, and certainly in the other countries too, much further. At least LEA gave this kind of toys in addi-

PHOTO : © LEA

Vigorous and resonant... cough of whistle accompanies the Czech Solar League from the beginning.

tion to prize for mayors of municipalities awarded in solar league in order to be able to raise a bit more the public awareness.

“We play around the whole field but we lose in power play” LEA has not played “conflict-free” games in the Czech leagues “on the side line” or even “out” only. They have also pursued correct “move to goal” at appropriate occasions. However, unlike some partner NGOs in the Czech Republic, LEA does not consider as the best the fact to always struggle with the government and parliamentarians to get legislative changes and regulations. But when Czech executive power decided to stop the connection of all new photovoltaic installations and problems with subsidies for solar thermal systems started, LEA workshop in Prague was the first one, where officials from responsible institutions were invited to exchange their opinions with municipalities’ representatives and professionals . But LEA appreciated even more, when they were the first in the country, who negotiated and performed for one year a multi-page section on solar systems and RES in the magazine “My house”, which was distributed widely in many chains of hypermarkets too. Information about the RES Champions League was naturally added. The participation of over one hundred h Pavlina Volakova, operation manager of the heating plant of the town Zlutice, kicked off the biomass league in the Czech Republic people in their seminars, which followed the annual championship celebration energy is mostly positive! of the solar league, was usual earlier. Paradoxically, LEA woke LEA thinks that it has contributed to it with its long-lasting opeup a strong interest as the solar league was entering the RES ration in the educational field and through the solar league of Champions League, while at the end of the European project course. And it believes that the trend towards increasing RES the interest had weakened immensely. Only events for investors utilization can no longer be reversed, it can be only slowed down. in photovoltaic installations, where they hatch a plot with lawyers It is only a matter of time, when the actual slowdown in the Czech against the state, which destroys their eco-business, have high Republic will be marked tomorrow (maybe with the next elecparticipation nowadays. “Whistles of officials”, supported by the tion? / next nuclear accident in Europe? / next energy crisis?) lobby of energetic giants, which range themselves mainly with as unfair. nuclear, coal and gas energy sectors, really stopped and have The “second wind” of the RES Champions League could help to sent most of RES to “penalty box” in the country. that change in this small country in the middle of Europe. Espe-

PHOTO : © LEA

Who will hiss out whom and when?! It is a basic fact, which resulted from a recent poll - despite the government’s media obscurantist campaign against RES, supported even by a part of the journalists, who blindly, as Czech president Václav Klaus, attack anything that smells of ecology: people clearly declared that their relationship with renewable

cially, if the proven team of organizers would start, for all unbelievers and ignorant, to draw visibly attention to municipalities or regions, where the 100% coverage of energy needs with RES utilization has been the reality already; just as good examples from neighbouring countries, where clean energy, unlike opponents of RES, was not hissed out from the game about the future! Karel Merhaut, LEA

05 NO EUROPEAN CONTEST WITHOUT NATIONAL LEAGUES

The French RES league moves actors in territories ! Creating emulation The first reason that motivated the French league organizer, the CLER (Liaison committee for renewable energies), to implement a RES league from 2005 in France, based on the existing model of the German Solarbundesliga, lied on a common statement of fact: nowadays, competitions attract far more the attention of people at large than cooperation projects. In order to create emulation, the CLER bet on the competitive spirit of cities, towns and villages. A lot of analogies with the football world came naturally. Football derbies, moving people together (for better or worse), exist at all scales – so will RES derbies. RES promoters, concerned citizens can encourage or boo their municipalities depending on how much they get involved in the promotion and development of sustainable energy – just like football fans do with their teams.

h All champions of 2010 season of French league celebrate their victory

h Hélène Dando, director of the environment in the City of Baie Mahault, with CLER staff in front of the TV set

Highlighting front-runners h Jacques Ravaillault, director of the regional action in the national energy saving agency Ademe, awards representatives of Macôt-la-Plagne

A RES league is a free marketing tool for local authorities. Indeed, results and rankings allow local authorities to be publicized in the press in a positive way. For smallest towns, it is sometimes a unique opportunity to be visible in media and to “appear on the map”. This is even easier when championship celebrations produce attractive materials for media (pictures, videos…). For instance, the picture of Michel Maya, Mayor of Tramayes, jumping

Creating contacts However, competition is not the one and only reason of the RES league. The cooperation part is of course a key issue, even more when the declared objective is eventually to encourage local authorities to enter a continuous improvement process towards the sustainable management of energy. Thanks to the different activities led aside the data collection and ranking process, representatives of local authorities have opportunities to meet, invite and learn from each other: they are part of a RES community. Local conferences, technical workshops and study tours are as many occasions to exchange with peers and improve their knowledge and competences. Now let’s consider another perspective: the one of the organizer. Through the RES league, the CLER makes connections with representatives in medium and large cities. The organisation is now considered as an important partner for them. Surprisingly, the need for RES data collection and compilation even led to reinforce internal contacts between different departments (public buildings, urban planning, environment) and between elected persons and staff within large cities: these connections are an important first step towards a transversal management of the energy and climate issues. Often, the CLER has been told that his letters brought (for a little while) the RES issue at the top of the mayor’s private office agenda. A good point to facilitate somehow the everyday activities of energy and climate officers. Furthermore, the league allowed identifying front-runner communities in rural territories (Communauté de communes du Mené, Montdidier. Tramayes…), which until then were rather unrevealed at the national level, even in the community of sustainable energy promoters. Noticing missing links among voluntary rural local authorities, the CLER has started to set up a coalition of actors willing to reach energy autonomy for the sake of local development, social cohesion and environmental protection. The Communauté de communes du Mené, awarded by the French RES league, took the lead and organized the first national “energy and rural communities” conference in June 2011, with the support of the CLER. The French “100% RES communities” network was launched during this event and is now growing. Hopefully, this “100% RES communities” movement will spread all over Europe in the next years, strengthening existing national initiatives (Germany, Italy, Austria…) and taking on board many other member states.

h Alfred Gorré, former mayor of Albiez-le-Jeune, is very pleased about the prize awarded to his small village

on a trampoline in the VIP stand of the Stadium of the Alpes in Grenoble, circulated widely in magazines, blogs and newspapers. Another interesting fact is that one city can be at the bottom of the football league (or any other sport competition) and at the top of the RES league. In France, the perfect example of this situation was the case of the city of Grenoble during season 2009. The brand new Stadium of the Alpes was inaugurated in February 2008, perfectly on time as Grenoble football club (GF38) was reaching the first league for the first time for 45 years. The club did pretty well during 2008/2009 season and ended at the 13th place. However, the start of 2009/2010 season was a complete “disaster” with 11 defeats in 11 matches. Hopefully, at the same time, the city of Grenoble took the lead of the French RES league in both solar photovoltaic and biomass categories. “Drop the ball, compete with renewable” seems to be the new moto of the city since then: Grenoble was awarded plenty of prizes on sustainable energy the same year and is now a recognized front-runner in France. The case of Grenoble also confirms one intuition: most cities having developed RES are also leaders in energy efficiency.

PHOTO : © CLER

Pushing a step forward Clearly, the intention of the CLER was to use the RES league as a tool to reach and motivate local authorities, raise their awareness and share common knowledge with them on global issues and local solutions. More precisely, the league aims at pushing them to start an energy and climate action plan. While encouraging them to count RES installations on the territory, the league motivates local authorities to know where they stand and how far they have to go. Thus the RES league is not just a game, but also a valuable database for benchmark on RES. As such, the league is referenced in the evaluator support guide of EEA / Cit’ergie label as a key resource for the quantitative evaluation of RES development within local authorities. Further on, the league is not just a database, but also a tool to promote support activities and offers of third parties related to renewable energies towards local authorities. The association of

towns Sydev, gathering 282 towns from Vendée département on energy issues, organized his own local award ceremony to give prizes to leading towns, in the view to mobilize all others to develop an energy and climate action plan according to a simplified and adapted methodology internally developed by the organization. In the same movement, in a near future, a precise strategy will be set up to encourage towns, especially the smallest among them, to sign the Covenant of Mayors and commit to reducing their CO2 emissions through RES and energy efficiency. This way, they will be included in a wide movement where they will be able to exchange their experiences at local, national and European levels.

Last but not least: the fun factor ! In the last year, following the example of Solarbundesliga, a global change in the communication approach of the French RES league was operated and a clear link with the ground of the action, the analogy with the football environment, was established. Football talks to everybody, whether you are an everyday follower of competitions or not. Without having to arouse specific associations of ideas, they rather come by themselves in people’s mind. Here is a lot of illustrations: elected persons of the association of towns SIEL were really proud to be awarded a green shirt, “the colour of Saint-Etienne”; Henri Dupassieux, deputy mayor of Chambéry, encouraged during 2011 championship celebration the players of Chambéry football team, “the Tom Thumb of the French cup, who beat two clubs playing in the first league, Monaco and Brest, and might continue during the round before the quarter finals and eventually also become champions like us”. Elected persons from Perpignan Méditerranée insisted on the fact that they were on a land of rugby (and had no particular interest in football), but were glad anyway to put on yellow and red shirts, reminding them of the “blood and gold” colours of their local rugby champions. At last, Stéphane Siebert, deputy mayor of Grenoble, was relieved to “not have to wear a blue shirt such as the one of the ceremony presenter, for it looked really to similar to the one of GF38”… collapsing at this very time in the football championship! Yannick Régnier, CLER

05 NO EUROPEAN CONTEST WITHOUT NATIONAL LEAGUES

The Polish “project fabric” woven in the RES Champions League

h Silver medal for Czestochowa was handed to J.Wydmuch, Director of the City Hall, during the award ceremony in Krakow, October 2010

hP articipants of local RES conference in Katowice, November 2009

A well-implemented project is like a precise woven fabric, which is both beautiful (thanks to its design, weaving pattern and colours) and sustainable (after completion of its weaving/creation process, the fabric lives its own intensive life). There are three factors determining the beauty and the sustainability of the fabric : the warp, the weft and the appropriate weaving pattern.

The warp, a base of the “project fabric”, consists of the project activities. Within the Polish RES League (OZE Liga), PNEC offered its beneficiaries - Polish municipalities - a set of extremely mobilizing project activities, such as: In-country activities : an opening seminar in Kielce (March, 2009); local conferences in Kielce (March, 2009), Katowice (November, 2009), Niepołomice (June, 2010) and Kraków (October, 2010); workshops in Kraków (April, 2011) and Zakopane (June, 2011); the Polish RES Champions Final in Kraków (October, 2010). European activities : a study tour to the Czech Republic (Zlin Region, October 5-7, 2010); the RES Champions League final in Dunkerque, France (May, 2010) and in Prague, Czech Republic (June, 2011); a study tour to Allendorf, Germany, by the Viessman group’s plane (April, 2011); documentary films, promoting in Europe (and in Poland) the best Polish municipalities and their achievements in the climate protection and use of RES. To take the cascade effect (a multiplication of the know-how transfer), most of the elements of the “warp” were combined with other technically attractive professional and/ or RES-related events, or were located in places being RES-project case-studies themselves. For example, the opening seminar in Kielce (March, 2009) was organized as part of the International RES Fair “ENEX”; the conference in Katowice (November, 2009) was placed in the Euro Centrum Science and Technology Park where the seminar participants could visit an energy efficient model building, producing from RES two third of consumed energy; the national award ceremony was a part of 1st RES Forum organized in Krakow which gathered about 130 participants.

The weft, the most important element of the “project fabric” structure, is the project beneficiaries. In this case, the “weft” that is “woven” back and forth through the “warp” is the Polish

hC hampions of the 1st season of Polish RES Champions League, Krakow, October 2010

hW . Ordon, mayor of Nowa Deba prod of the European RES Champions League award, Niepołomice, June 2010

RES League beneficiaries that mean Polish municipalities. In total, in all project activities, about 160 Polish municipalities participated actively, and the number grows, as the Polish league’s biomass and solar ranking lists are still open for newcomers. Initially, the number of the Polish RES League players grew very slowly, as it was a real challenge to encourage them to sign-in, mainly because the registration process required some knowledge on the technical parameters of the RES installations working on their territories. In addition to this, lack of successes of the Polish football teams negatively affected the attractiveness of the project and the related competition messages. Gradually, the Polish RES League was growing, thanks to the relatively simple registration procedure and intensive promotion of the project. There were many reasons why, eventually, so many Polish municipalities decided to join the Polish RES Champions League. First, the offer is attractive and made of innovative formula and unconventional kind of the competition, referring to the football games, access to the newest technologies and technical solutions tested in the project partner countries and refreshing spontaneity and informality of the project meetings. These consisted in short “sports” interviews during the 1st European Award Ceremony in Dunkerque, photo session of European champions on the National Theatre roof in Prague, with a PV installation at the background, show in football t-shirts during the RES Champions League opening in Brussels and the championship celebrations. It was always about mixing RES and football: awards in the form of solar flowers, sun-shaped-medals and cups stylized as the UEFA Cups, “We are the champions” soundtrack played to announce the award ceremony, etc.

Then, the “whisper marketing” among Mayors and Presidents worked well: participants to workshops, conferences and studytour were enthusiastic about the events and passed spontaneously the information on the project to their colleagues, mostly through informal conversations or discussions. At last, the promotional potential of the project was high to reach participants and allow them promoting themselves. The project gave the opportunity for meetings, presentations and professional discourses on RES with local government counterparts from Germany, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Hungary, but also for participation in very prestigious national and European leagues. It participated in the strengthening of Mayors and Presidents’ own position as local “leaders of innovation”. Small municipalities gained even more prestige by becoming winners of the Polish (e.g.: Myczkowce, Stanówko, Kisielice) and European (e.g.: Szczawnica, Nowa Deba) leagues.

The weaving pattern, a specific way of interlacing “warp” and “weft” in the “project fabric’s” creation process, is the project management. Management of such an unconventional project as the RES Champions League is a real challenge for the project team, requiring from its members a lot of dedication, everyday interrelationship with project beneficiaries and their continuous mobi-

lization towards pro-activity, opening and breaking stereotypes. PNEC performed its interactive contacts with project beneficiaries using such management means as: - Communication and awareness strengthening through the dissemination of project’s products (booklets, website based online tools, etc.), encouraging and motivating beneficiaries to use new RES technologies and follow best examples of the league front-runners. - Communication through information and educational events : national and international experience exchange was possible during workshops, seminars, conferences, study tours (external and organized within the project), and thanks to a twinning with a partner getting a greater know-how (Czech tutorial partners). - Internet presence : a project webpage was established and provides all project related information, including ranking lists, examples of shining case studies, etc. It was updated continuously during the project lifetime and will still be after its completion.

hM unicipal Intelligent Energy Day in Gorlice, May 2009

- E-Newsletter and information to the press and relevant institutions and individuals : it was distributed among the key country entities and stakeholders (press, public and private bodies, local networks, NGOs, etc.), in Polish, providing information on project products, events, good practices and links to project’s beneficiaries. - Communication through opportunity-based PR : the dissemination was made through PNEC’s, Poland specific or international, communication channels (local governments or/ and NGO websites, other organizations’ e-newsletters, radio broadcasts, press articles, DVD films on Polish league front runners). Additionally, the organization or participation in local and international professional events allowed promoting project’s objectives, results, partners and beneficiaries. - Personal contacts : the purpose was to motivate potential project’s participants and stakeholders in order to explain them the project benefits. It was about networking among relevant persons working for municipalities, decision makers, nongovernmental eco-trend setters, during different events, official or working meetings and/or through phone calls. And thus, working hard and with a great devotion for over 3 years, PNEC’s team, together with project beneficiaries, have “woven” a sustainable, attractive and strong “project fabric”, the Polish RES League that at present starts living its own life, and - as real football fans – PNEC will continue supporting and promoting this initiative. Iwona Kohoroda, PNEC

05 NO EUROPEAN CONTEST WITHOUT NATIONAL LEAGUES

Winning with solar energy in Hungary

h Orosháza, the winner of the Suncrown Championship 2010 (left to right: Jozsef Varju, energy manager, Béla Németh, mayor of Orosháza, Ada Ámon, director of Energy Club)

The first purpose of “Sun championship” programme was to assist those municipalities, which already have taken steps regarding using renewable energies. The most important messages of the league were: it is worth to invest in solar energy, success of others can be repeated, efforts of a municipality for using renewables can lead positive feedback among local citizens and also municipalities could learn how to use external experiences to improve their own projects.

Another purpose was to create an information network, which provides the possibility for mayors to get or share information at the same time. Therefore in 2010 besides the competition, Energy Club published a useful collection of German best practices, organized a conference and also helped the interested and frontrunner municipalities to get informed of the latest technologies in the frame of a study tour to Germany. Future cooperations were formed during the tour, for instance the energy manager of Fürth offered his help to the city of Sopron and technical staff of other Hungarian participant cities changed their experiences.

$ The symbolic award at Napkorona Bajnoksag colours was just one of the prizes

It was a success, that by the end of the second season of the league, 165 municipalities were registered, and a great number of them participated actively: they promoted the initiative locally (e.g. on their own website) and facilitated the collection of data among citizens. There were municipality employees who counted local solar thermal panels walking around the settlement on their own or accompanied with other municipality workers. In Orosháza they posted posters about the project in several spots of the town, to stimulate the willingness to participate. Nagypáli got national fame with the European award, newspapers and magazines presented the example of this extremely successful little settlement. It was the league’s essential priority to map the use of solar and bioenergy in Hungary and to create a database. This task was

The dozens of published press-articles, radio and TV reports related to Energy Club conferences and awards ceremonies mean the smaller part of success for us: the real achievement is that media in general showed real interest in solar and bioenergy. It is hard to find some reliable information sources dealing with RES. Therefore it was very nice to see, that after “Breakfast with the press“ event (which focused on the presentation of the Hungarian solar energy sector) several detailed articles were published in different professional economic magazines.

h The Energy Club’s energy conference in Budapest before the second national award ceremony, May 2011

fulfilled partially and the completing of the database is among Energy Club long-term goals. By fulfilling the task of collecting best practices, the organisation had also the chance to collect information on energy efficiency projects in public buildings. Energy Club founded the jurys of the solar and biomass leagues, a board formed by leading energy managers, representatives of municipal associations and representative organizations of the solar and biomass sectors. Here are the different phases of the league: promotion (PR phase, press relations, letters to municipalities), data collection (direct communication with municipalities) and announcement of results (PR phase). The duration of PR phases decreased remarkably after the first year’s promotion period. Energy Club happily noticed that regional press was fond of its programmes and covered gladly the news and interesting details. They also interviewed mayors about local importance of solar and biomass energy use on the occasion of the League. Most important experiences

Communication with municipalities is rather difficult because of the lack of information sources or a person/position responsible for energy related issues by the municipality. Mayors are often not aware of the importance and value of the communication of a renewable energy or an energy efficiency project in the city. They do not know or feel that in some cases a solar energy investment can be used as PR announcement material as well. Energy Club highlighted the importance of promoting these efforts against locals, to get them involved and interested in these developments. Local people are generally not involved in energy processes despite the fact that many solar systems are being installed on public

buildings. Energy Club experienced that a municipality would rarely enhance the importance of using renewable energies. But those who did did well. For instance, in the municipality of Martfű where photovoltaic panels were installed on 6 public buildings (schools, kindergartens, library), local leaders noticed the potential and provided wide range of operational information about the solar systems for end users in every building. The city got national fame for that thanks to the programme. There is no reliable database about actual use of solar energy in Hungary available for decision makers (such data, especially because of the difficulty of reaching manufacturers and because of the voluntary registration, is very hard to collect). Citizens prefer not to provide information if it is not compulsory. In a future phase of the program, citizens could be involved in the League with different prices, motivation, PR activity. During the programme, Energy Club identified critical issues that could possibly be an obstacle to public renewable energy investments. The most important among these obstacles are the lack of appropriate information and the fact that municipalities operate mostly without a professional energy manager. The organisation tried to fill these gaps with high standard conferences and workshops offering practical knowledge. International good practices were very popular among the interested participants, as well as the experiences of the study tour in Germany. Indeed, municipalities often have difficulties to identify, which is the good, reliable product or system that fits the local potentials. In the second season of the solar league, Energy Club launched the biomass league too. This initiative was anticipated by the creation of a strict system of criteria (mainly with a sustainability focus). The most important goal of the biomass league is the mapping of the public biomass utilizations in Hungary. Energy Club successfully collected the data of capacity and fuel. Energy Club

05 NO EUROPEAN CONTEST WITHOUT NATIONAL LEAGUES

The RES Champions League: an incubator for sustainability champions in Bulgaria

h The national televison TV1 held interviews during the visit of Bansko’s biomass plant

The ABEA organised its first national award ceremony for Bulgarian front-runners during a conference on November 26, 2009, in Plovdiv. In the biomass category, the gold medal was presented to Bansko. The silver medal was awarded to Ardino, and the bronze medal went to Ihtiman. In the solar category, Paunovo (Ihtiman Municipality) was the gold medal winner. The silver medalist was

Botevo, and bronze went to Yankovo. Ihtiman collected the medals: Mayor Petkova received the gold medal in the Solar League, and the bronze medal in the Biomass League. A few years ago, Ihtiman started an energy audit of public buildings heated by oil and using old systems burning solid and liquid fuel. As a result, a new concept to heat schools, kindergartens, hospitals, a community center and several administrative buildings was developed. The main objective was to build a secure and independent heating system. Biomass became real on February 20, 2009. This would not have happened without the understanding and cooperation of the mayor and the city council. The district heating plant was installed with a 3 MW boiler based on wood chips, which works completely automatically. The heating distribution system has a length of over eight kilometers and supplies over 24 buildings. The system and all processes are managed by only one operator on duty and can be controlled through the Internet. Approximately 940 tonnes of oil were saved in 2009. This is equal to a reduction of 3 360t of CO2 emissions. The benefits of the new plant in the city are indisputable: heating costs decreased to a third of the level of the period when oil was used. The conditions for private subscribers are profitable, too. The biggest event in the first season of the RES Champions League was the First European Award ceremony on May 19, 2010 in Dunkerque (France), during the 6th European Sustainable Cities & Towns Conference. The ABEA is proud of the municipality of Bansko, which won second place in «small towns” division (from 5,000 to 20,000 inh.). Although having a small number of inhabitants (9 212), Bansko has great ambitions to become the largest ski resort in southern Europe. In the field of tourism, they set a goal to turn Bansko into a city of green energy. The first

The Bulgarian RES League was established on 10 February 2009 in Bansko. At this time, only four Bulgarian municipalities had signed the Covenant of Mayors. Now this number increased to 15. The Association of Bulgarian Energy Agencies (ABEA) aims at facilitating the smooth adaptation of municipalities to the fast-evolving energy context – specifically, to the use of renewable energy sources. For the official launching event of his national league, ABEA organized a study tour to the district heating biomass plant in Bansko and held a press conference with the participation of representatives of municipalities, energy agencies, media and RES Champions League project coordinator, Yannick Régnier. The event was covered by journalists from national TV channels, radio stations and newspapers. Bansko, the leader in the Bulgarian biomass league with its 10 MW heating plant, was the first entrant. In December 2006, the plant started functioning. The local authority chose biomass as a municipal policy for achieving energy autonomy. The heating plant supplies heat to more than 50 private buildings - hotels, residences, even a church… - as well as 20 municipal buildings, including schools, a kindergarten, the Vapsarov Museum and the hospital. The economic impact of this heating system consists in a 50% cut in energy bills of heated buildings. The environmental impacts of the project are very positive in terms of emissions saved: over 4 500 t СО2/year, over 1 300 t СН4/year, over 1 700 t NOx/year, over 1 600 t SO2/year.

h ( TOP) Congratulations to the champions of 2010 season of the Bulgarian league h ( BOTTOM) Ceremony concluding the 3rd season of the Bulgarian RES league

h Press conference held in the town hall of Bansko as a conclusion to the kick-off event of Bulgarian RES league

steps were a hydrogen power plant with a total capacity of 7,4 MW and a 10 MW biomass heating plant. The municipality now considers the possibility to build a biogas installation. At the end of year 2010, the ABEA organised the second national award ceremony of the Bulgarian RES league. The media covered widely and a large audience attended this colorful ceremony.

PHOTO : © ABEA

The winners were: • Biomass league : - Bansko – 10 MW biomass heating plant; - Chepelare – installation for heating on public buildings, using wood chips and wood pellets with total capacity of 1,8 MW; - Ardino – local heating of public buildings on wood chips with total capacity of 1,2 MW. • Solar league: - Paunovo, municipality of Ihtiman – PV park Paunovo (1 MW) - General Todorov, municipality Petrich – PV park Pripechene (1 MW) - Blatetz, municipality Sliven – PV park (837 kW) A special award for a “Consistent Policy for Sustainable Energy Development” was given to the municipality of Chepelare as the first member of ABEA’s 100-Percent Club. This Bulgarian town was on the verge of attaining full independence from fossil fuels in its heating of public buildings. By the end of next year, one hundred percent of its heating will be derived from renewable energy sources (wood chips and pellets). In 2008, Chepelare switched the heating system in two buildings – a kindergarten and a professional school – from oil to

biomass. That was a good start. On 2009, five more public buildings made the switch. By achieving these results, Chepelare has accomplished a great deal beyond the Europe-wide “3x20” targets for the year 2020. Next year, two schools and a municipal children’s complex will again convert to biomass. When this becomes reality, 69% of the energy consumption in the city – and one hundred percent of its heating budget - will be derived from renewable sources. Carbon dioxide emissions will have been reduced by sixty-nine percent from the 2006 baseline. And total energy consumption will have been reduced by 30 %. To put these accomplishments into euros, by adopting RES, Chepelare has already cut its municipal energy expenses by 44% compared to the 2006 level. And a year from now, expenses will be 57% lower than the baseline. The municipality was a serious contender for the title of 2011 European RES Champion and behaved very well indeed: Chepelare became the bronze winner in the “small towns” division (from 5,000 to 20,000 inh.) during the second European award ceremony held on 2-3 June in Prague (Czech republic). During the three last years, the ABEA organized seven conferences, three technical workshops and four study tours to awarded installations in Bulgaria to attract the attention of municipalities on RES. Clearly, the experience shows that most successful events are study tours. People have the opportunity to see an implemented and working project, to ask the questions about each step of its implementation and to get information about the barriers they are overcoming. Milena Agopyan, ABEA

Legambiente identifies ‘‘100% renewable municipalities’’ in italy The Legambiente annual report “Comuni Rinnovabili” was published for the first time in 2005 with the aim of analyzing the development of renewable resources in the Italian municipality’s territories, so in a context where the development of these technologies was not very strong in Italy. Through the study, Legambiente wants to monitor the development of renewable energies and disseminate the municipal best practices at national level with the aim of informing citizens, municipalities and companies that want to follow the example. The result of the analysis is obtained cross-checking data provided by the municipalities themselves through a questionnaire similar to those provided by the research partners GSE (public body that provides incentives to renewable energy development), ENEA (Research Institute) and by numerous companies and study of the sector. Through the processing of these data, Legambiente draw up charts based on the power or extension of technologies in relation to the number of inhabitants in order to highlight the better examples of installations able to respond to the energy needs of families. For each of the renewable resources studied (solar thermal and photovoltaic, wind power and mini wind power, solid biomass, biogas, geothermal heating and high and low enthalpy), the best examples 2011 edition of the «Renewable municipalities» report prepared by Legambiente in the development of these technologies are h highlighted from a quantitative point of view. Because the aim of the analysis is to highlight how the mix of Moreover, the most important prize is the “100% Renewable renewable sources can empower large and small municipalities, Municipality” prize, that awards municipalities that through the in this ranking we analyze only those municipalities that have on new renewable technologies (excluding the great historical their territory at least 4 different technologies. works such as geothermal and hydroelectric) can produce more In the years, Legambiente has been able to take a census of heat and electricity than resident families need. This prize is 100% of Italian municipalities. Therefore the report “Renewable based not only on quantitative parameters but also on qualitative Municipalities” can be considered as a national reference not parameters. In this way it is possible to calculate (theoretically) only for citizens but also for municipalities, provinces and regions the energy contribution that each source gives to the municipality and associations who want to know the real development of difand at the same time it is possible to make a comparison with the ferent renewable technologies in the Italian territories. real needs of resident households. The final result is a ranking Thanks to this prize, Legambiente has awarded almost 20 munibased on the percentage of energy needs (heat and electricity) cipal governments that can be considered self-sufficient, comcovered by the new renewable energies, excluding geothermal pared to domestic consumption. Among these, there are the or hydropower energies. examples of Prato allo Stelvio, Dobbiaco and Brunico which have

paved the way in pushing many other Italian municipalities to move in the same direction. Every year, the report is presented in a national conference where Legambiente awards the best 5 territorial policies, not only from the point of view of quantity standards but also quality standards, thus promoting the best policies for developing these technologies. Two of this five prizes are for the “100% Renewable Municipalities” while the other three prizes are reserved for those municipalities that have implemented good policies in one sector or that have implemented a single technology in a good way. Thanks to this, the small h Symbolic prizes awarded to Italian municipalities during the press conference presenting the annual report town of Tocco da Casauria (PE) in September 2010 was mentioned on the first page of the New York Times as “100% Electric City” tour of one day in the “100% Renewable Communities”, with the that is to say a municipality that thanks only to the wind plants is chance to meet the mayors and technicians who know all the able to produce more electricity than needed to resident families. “secrets” of the plants. The latest innovation developed by Legambiente and linked to The aim of the tour is to create a network where the municipal the report, was the first Renewable Municipalities Tour, through government can exchange ideas and collaborations in order to which 5 municipal administrations were invited to participate in a develop projects on their territories. Katiuscia Eroe, Legambiente

Belgian municipalities and their citizens take up a challenge: win the title of RES champion!

The Association for the Promotion of Renewable Energies (APERe), in partnership with the Bond Beter Leefmilieu, has kicked-off the first season of the Renewable Energies Championship in October 2011. This action awards the municipalities for their sustainable energy policies. The season lasts five months: this is the allowed time to get a maximum number of points, thanks to: 1/ achieved and on-going actions on sustainable energy, 2/ existing renewable energy installations and 3/ the support of their citizens. From the first of October, Belgian towns compete to win the title of “RES Champion”. Three different divisions have been defined according to the number of inhabitants: “less than 10,000 inhabitants”, “from 10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants” and “more than 50,000 inhabitants”. Municipalities have five months to assess their sustainable energy policy, reinforce their actions and get the support of their population. Objective criteria have been defined and allow evaluating and comparing efforts of the participants. All municipalities can therefore win! APERe and the Bond Beter Leefmilieu bet on a win-win approach: against an active invol-

vement of the municipalities, they provide them with a technical support, adapted tools and the possibility to benefit from external consultancy to the participating municipalities. A specific feature of the Belgian championship is the strong role given to the citizens: they are invited to support their town voting for it on the championship website. Every vote counts and increases the score of the municipality. This is a unique and original way to act for sustainable energy and assist the initiatives of one’s town. Even if the town has not registered by itself to the championship, citizens can have their word: if more than 1% of the population vote for their town, the organizers will contact the municipality and encourage it to join the movement, considering the positive pressure put by this popular initiative. A lot of prizes will be given to the municipalities but also citizens: renewable energy installations, a legal support from a specialized law office, free consultancy to set up a Energy Performance Contracting for public buildings… Jade Charouk, APERe

06 PLAY NOW !

Start a national RES league in your country and join RES Champions League

h International audience paying careful attention to the presentation of the Czech situation on energy issues during the 2nd European ceremony in Prague, June 2011

h Yannick Régnier, project coordinator, commented the presentation of the Covenant of Mayors movement during Energy Cities and Climate Alliance annual conference, April 2009

In order to participate in the RES Champions League, a city, town or village in Europe has to join a national RES league. Leagues have already been established in eight countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Poland. The RES Champions League is open to more national leagues! The following pages give useful input to national organisations willing to start a RES league in their country and join the European RES Champions League as a partner. This methodological information identifies the basic prerequisites to start a league, explains the spirit and key principles of such an action and gives some precious tips on how to make a league attractive for local authorities. A focus is also made on the national championship celebration, the annual climax of a league, and on the features provided by the joint website of all partners. The current consortium of partners gives a good overview of the diversity of organisations who are able to deal with the animation of a league: Solarthemen (Germany) are two journalists, CLER (France) is a network of energy professionals, Legambiente (Italy) is a large environmental NGO, PNEC (Poland) is a network of municipalities, ABEA (Bulgaria) is a network of local energy agencies… Therefore, candidate organisations for the creation of a new league can be of any kind: national energy agencies, national networks of local energy agencies, national networks of municipalities, specialised NGOs or companies (in the fields of sustainable energy and environment), specialised journalists… What counts more is a strong motivation rather than the legal status. As a member of RES Champions League network, the newcomers will benefit from free support from project coordinator and partners and a cheap access to RES Champions League website (creation of a “virtual” national website in the European one) and other existing communication tools (newsletter, leaflet…). National RES leagues started on their own in Germany, Czech republic and France, even before RES Champions League was created. Thanks to the methodological and communication tools developed by the consortium of partners and their “live” support, it is now far easier to join the network. Don’t wait to enter the competition: “play now”! If you want to know more about the RES Champions League and the conditions to start a national RES league, you can contact the coordinator of RES Champions League or any organisation responsible for existing leagues (see the “contact” page).

h LEA hostess among participants of the Czech biomass-league kick-off in Prague, May 2009

Starting a RES league

h Project team after the 2nd Award Ceremony on the roof of the National Theatre service building in Prague, June 2011

Every league began with the decision of an organisation to really get involved in it. People’s experience of the leagues that have been around for a while now has shown that leagues actually grow more attractive over the years. More and more local authorities gradually join the league, and as the popularity of renewable sources of energy grows, these gain momentum as topics in these regions. Any organisation that wish to set up a league for renewables should ready themselves for a long-term project. This is definitely worthwhile.

PHOTO : © LEA

It must be possible to keep the ranking up to date as frequently as possible and publicise this score right from the start. You can use the RES Champions League website to do this. Relatively little effort is required to set up a subordinate national page on the existing website. A number of pieces should be translated into the country’s official language(s), though. As soon as this basic structure has been set up, a national organisation can address the general public and call for participation in the league. It ought to be clear from the outset when the first season will end. An appealing introductory event (also named “kickoff” event) can give a league the initial swing it needs to get going. This calls for a considerable amount of creativity, mind you: an initial press conference possibly involving a well-known personality from show business or the sports world, an accompanying conference on the use of renewable sources of energy in cities, towns

and villages, a bet between the first local authorities to participate or a fun event for children. If this sort of thing catches the media’s attention as well as the local authority’s and the local population’s eye, then the first steps taken have been a great success. It’s definitely a good idea to contact a number of pioneering local authorities well ahead of the event. You can then start with the first ranking procedure right away, and the example set by the local authorities will encourage others. Make sure that the ranking is kept up to date right from the beginning, of course. In the weeks and months that follow, you can build on this foundation and keep the new league in people’s minds with press releases about the latest developments. This is easier if you cooperate with interested media that are able to produce regular features about the ranking and contest. It could be very helpful to have one regular media partner from the very beginning, who is close to and familiar with municipalities. At the same time, you can get in touch with other organisations concerned with local authorities and renewables if such contacts haven’t been made already. These parties can be involved in the movement by making them members of a league committee, which provides advice on the national rules, for example. This way, a network of renewable energy actors and local authorities will be created.

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Basic prerequisites to start a RES league Both in football and in renewables, there wouldn’t be a Champions League without the national leagues. As in the sports world, both individuals and local authorities are somehow driven by the competitive spirit and want to make comparisons that are as direct as possible. Sports fans often feel it’s more important to know where their team currently is in the national league – like in football. National RES leagues are important for making direct comparisons. Above all, though, they’re easier to get across to people. A league is a good opportunity to obtain information and get local authorities moving. This can only be done easily among people speaking the same language. That’s why it is crucial that a lot of activities take place in the participants’ own country. The organisations responsible for a national RES League are aware of the prevailing conditions regarding the use of renewables – not just the legal requirements, but people’s mentalities and attitudes.

A few prerequisites have to be satisfied to maintain this degree of coverage in the long term, however: the organisations have to have time for a league and provide enough manpower for it. This is easier for organisations that are already in touch with journalists, the press and know the right people within the local authorities. It’s these two groups that need to be contacted primarily. Local players such as mayors, associations and skilled craftsmen need to be won over for the league as they are the ones who will be collecting all the data and challenging the competition. When a league is first started, it’s wise to contact a number of well-known pioneering local authorities directly and ask them to join it. Others are sure to follow once the competition is up and running. Activities should also be planned nationally, though, to make more local authorities aware of the league. Journalists/the media are important for publicising the contest on a wide scale and increasing its relevance in the eyes of the decision-makers in local authorities. Press releases have to be written regularly and direct contact has to be made with journalists to promote the league. It’s very good to have media partners on your side, which cover a league with reports continuously. Within an organisation, various positions have to be created and filled, depending on how fast the league is to be set up, and a specific person must be put in charge of data maintenance. The local authority players collect their data locally and report it to the league using a web-based form, for example. Obviously, it’s impossible to check all the details, but the plausibility of the data should always be examined. In general, anything that is unclear can be sorted out by asking about it directly. A database is necessary for collecting the data. These tasks can be dealt with via the RES Champions League website, which

hD uring the excursion after the 2nd Award Ceremony people visited the unique solar cooling system with vacuum collectors (hotel Duo in Prague)

contains a database of its own. Some national organisations feel it is useful to process their data in an additional separate database first and then transmit data regularly to the website of RES Champions League. Collecting, processing and transmitting data is a key task in every league. This is why people with sound knowledge of databases and the Internet are useful in an organisation responsible for a national RES league. People familiar with public relations (PR) are equally important to make the league a success – people who know how to write a press release and arrange a public event, such as the championship celebration to honour the national champions. In general, it ought to be possible to run a league well by working on it around 10 to 20 hours a week, all in all. In the beginning, you will need time to establish the league (website, partnerships, press work). Then as soon as participant numbers rise, you will need time for administration while always keeping on communicating. As a general comment, it is possible to work less on the league, too, but then the effectiveness of the action could be reduced. Once these basic requirements have been met, it’s quite easy to start up a national league. A public call for participants should be made over as many communication channels as possible. At the same time as that, it’s a good idea to contact directly some local authorities that are pioneers in the field. When doing this, a firm date should be stated for the end of the first season on which the winners will be determined on the basis of existing cumulative figures. The local authorities should also be encouraged to report any current data whenever they can. The league’s organisation can employ various intermediate steps for PR purposes, such as announcing the 100th local authority to participate in it.

PHOTO: © LEA

National leagues go down well. Cities, towns and villages all participate in them. Over 2,000 of them are in the oldest league – Germany’s National Solar League – and these are home to more than a third of Germany’s population. What’s more, magazines, newspapers, radio and TV channels take up the topic as well.

Making a league attractive for local authorities

h Representatives of Bulgarian municipalities are proud to display the diplomas received to award their titles of 2010 champions

A RES league can only work with the support of local authorities – the league is only a stage and they are the stars who perform on it. The cities, towns and villages also need to be made aware of the advantages of joining the league, however. Some of the local-authority players are interested in comparisons with other towns and cities – they want to know exactly where they stand. But this won’t be enough to persuade other local authorities to participate; they need to know how the league will benefit them.

PHOTO : © ABEA

CONVINCING LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO TAKE PART: KEY ARGUMENTS Renewable sources of energy result in economic benefits for local authorities: more money stays in the region since it does not flow out of it to buy fossil fuels; the installation of power generation systems that use renewable sources of energy creates new jobs. A number of local authorities have already developed activities of their own in this area. But how do they manage to publicise these and do so again and again? Having a good rank in the league documents the fact that local authorities are also playing a prominent role in fields that are shaping the future. Being part of a RES league can also have benefits if it’s regarded as a marketing tool for promoting the image of a town. The national media, in particular, tends not to report about small towns and villages very much, but a top position in the RES league would definitely gain them some attention. Examples from existing leagues show that daily newspapers and television channels follow

up the successful achievements of local authorities. Every local authority profits from the coverage given to its local solar and wood energy systems as a result of participating in the league. Administrators in cities, towns and villages frequently don’t know how many RES systems are actually in operation. But they need this figure for the league. And when this information is determined, people become aware that RES power systems are actually well-established technologies. Local citizens then realise that they can follow the example set by others. This creates new areas of activity for craftsmen and is a prerequisite for local authorities to attain the climate-policy goals already in place. A positive process has started up. Participating in a league is also a way for people to create connections. Local authorities can then become part of the RES community, which will help them get in touch with other people. The annual championship celebrations are an ideal opportunity to strengthen your existing contacts in an informal way and also learn from others, which saves you time and money into the bargain. And last but not least, a league is like a sport, adding an element of fun and enthusiasm to life in the community. Competition with others can have an enlivening effect upon people. Seen in this light, climate protection is not solely a worrying issue; in fact, carefully documenting the increasing number of RES systems in use – the technologies of the future – can actually create a spirit of optimism.

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Organising A national championship celebration and booking the actual venue for the ceremony and celebration. In most cases, it’s advisable to involve the local authority at this point, providing it is prepared to help, since it knows what venue is best and why. It’s certainly wise to encourage local authorities to add a regional touch to the event in the form of local food, music or local ways of celebrating. Experience has shown that this is possible in existing leagues and that local authorities set great store by providing the location for such an event. You may find that this isn’t practicable in the first few years of a league, however – it’s just a question of time before the league becomes well-known. Obviously, the decision to create a formal atmosphere for the award ceremony or a lively, jovial one partly depends on the national situation. There are no limits to your creativity here. You can even invite h Jean-Pierre Ruffier, first deputy mayor of Chambéry, is awarded a 2011 European prize in Prague, June 2011 well-known personalities to attend this event if you wish to. The national championship celebrations or championship celebraThe championship celebrations or championship celebrations are an important element in a RES league. They aren’t just an tions mark the culmination of the season at the European excellent opportunity for presswork. Most of all, they are a chance for level as well. The people involved meet up in alternating local authorities to get together and get to know each other. The best countries – the organisers of the national leagues and, most local authorities in each category receive an award at the ceremony. of all, the local authorities. How they stage the RES ChamThe actual award ceremony can also be combined with a confepions League award is up to the individual organisers. rence on the use of renewable sources of energy in cities, towns and villages. Other accompanying events are possible as well, of course. One of the things that plays a great role is the venue for the award ceremony. If the local authority in question happens to be a pioneer in the field, then obviously you could pay the community a visit together with representatives from other local authorities and find out more details on location. The end of the championship celebrations should be marked by a party in a friendly atmosphere, which gives people the opportunity to chat together informally. The choice of venue is a key requirement for any championship celebration. One the one hand, the city, town or village in question ought to be attractive to visitors. On the other hand, the municipality should really have a genuine interest in hosting the award ceremony. If this is the case, then it will also be prepared to play an active role in the arrangements (including a financial one), which starts with offering

hYannick Régnier, project coordinator, congratulates the Mayor of Brunico, European champion in the Small cities division

IT corner : the features of RES Champions League website and database

h Municipal Intelligent Energy Day in Gorlice, May 2009

An important communication tool of the RES Champions League is its website, www.res-league.eu. This is where all the information provided by the countries involved in the league is pooled. The European website essentially consists of the following: - General information, news and reports about the RES Champions League and news and reports on the use of renewable sources of energy in cities, towns and villages in each of the countries (“best practices”) - Rankings at a European level in the form of a database that is constantly updated: the scores achieved by the local authorities participating in the league can be viewed at any time this way. - National rankings and, thanks to an efficient search tool, any sub-ranking upon geographical location or technology. This last point is not dealt with uniformly by the participating countries; some of them create their own websites for their national leagues and maintain them independently of the RES Champions League. In addition to this, they provide content for the European website and keep the data provided by their own local authorities up to date. Other organisations make use of the entire range of features provided on the European website. Using a content management system (CMS), each national organisation is able to add content to the European website and edit it at its own discretion (consequently, they bear full responsibility for any changes they make). Access is granted via user accounts (protected by passwords). No computer experts are required for

this, but the people who work with the CMS should get progressively familiar with the system. This equally applies to importing data for ranking purposes. Above all, the website makes it possible to collect data provided by the local authorities. You can submit data through a web form on the website. The national organisation responsible for the league monitors, corrects and approves the data for release. This way, the database on the RES installations is constantly kept up to date – in line with the frequency of local authorities’ activities. The pages of the website are in English and the countries’ respective national languages; the organisations participating in each of the countries are responsible for any translations required. All in all, the RES Champions League website provides a pool of ideas and promotes networking. At the same time, the ranking given to a local authority shows visitors how it has developed with respect to solar and wood energy. Dedicated domain names have been created for different national pages of RES Champions League website. They can be used as PR tools at European and national levels. The various web pages available offer services to local authorities that provide them with important information. Anyone around the world can call up ranking details – and journalists also have a simple opportunity to report about the latest developments in the competition.

CONTACTS EUROPE RES CHAMPIONS LEAGUE www.res-league.eu - contact@res-league.eu

GERMANY SOLARBUNDESLIGA www.solarbundesliga.de Solarthemen - Guido Bröer & Andreas Witt GbR Bültestr. 70b - 32584 Löhne redaktion@solarthemen.de - Tel. + 49 5731 8 34 60

C ZE C H REPUBLI C SOLARNI LIGA www.solarniliga.cz LEA (League of Ecological Alternatives) Bezrucova 605 - 276 01 Melnik lea@ecn.cz - Tel. + 420 723 573 738

BULGARIA LIGA VEI www.liga-vei.net ABEA (Association of Bulgarian Energy Agencies) 44 Oborishte str. - 1505 Sofia eap@liga-vei.net - Tel. + 359 32 62 57 56

FRAN C E LIGUE ENR www.ligue-enr.fr CLER (Comité de Liaison Energies Renouvelables) 2, rue Jules Ferry - Bât. B - 93100 Montreuil contact@ligue-enr.fr- Tel. + 33 1 55 86 80 04

POLAN D LIGA OZE www.ozeliga.pl PNEC (Polish Network “Energy-Cities”) Stawkowska 17, pok 30 - 31-016 Kraków biuro@pnec.org.pl - Tel. + 48 12 429 1795

HUNGARY NAPKORONA BAJNOKSÁG www.napkoronabajnoksag.hu Energiaklub Climate Policy Institute And Applied Communications Szerb u. 17-19 - 1056 Budapest energiaklub@energiaklub.hu - Tel. + 36 1 411 35 26

ITALY CAMPIONATO SOLARE www.campionatosolare.it Legambiente Onlus Via Salaria 403 - 00199 Roma info@campionatosolare.it - Tel. +39 06.86268402

BELGIUM CHAMPIONNAT ENERGIES RENOUVELABLES www.championnat-er.be APERe (Association pour la Promotion des Energies Renouvelables) Rue Royale, 35 - 1000 Bruxelles info@championnat-er.be - Tel. +32 218 78 99

WITH THE SUPPORT OF Climate Alliance

Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V. www.umwelthilfe.de Fritz-Reichle-Ring 4 - 78315 Radolfzell - Germany Tel. + 4977 32 99 95 30 - info@duh.de

Climate Alliance www.klimabuendnis.org Galvanistr. 28 - 60486 Frankfurt am Main - Germany Tel. + 49 69 71 71 39 12 - europe@climatealliance.org

PHOTOS : TOP AND BOTTOM LEFT : © YANNICK REGNIER CLER - TOP RIGHT : © EWS PRATO - MIDDLE RIGHT : © LEA - BOTTOM RIGHT : © DUH UWE FRIEDEL