Import workshop of POTEnT project took place in Ostrava on 12 May 2022. More than 30 participants from representatives of the cities of the Moravian-Silesian Region, the Regional Authority, Ostrava city districts, Ostrava companies, and experts from the Ostrava City Council joined the educational and discussion morning on the topic of sustainable energy and renewable energy.
The morning was divided into three thematic areas, which are closely linked to POTEnT. The first presenter - a former POTEnT project manager and current stakeholder - introduced foreign experiences in the field of low-carbon energy. In a broader context, the presentation described current trends and issues in the energy sector, such as the European Union's Green Deal initiative, the search for a compromise between central energy production and massive distribution network and local energy production and consumption, the increasing prioritization of energy efficiency improvements or the "community energy" system. The participants described the principle of community energy in the context of Czech and European legislation. The aim is to provide all citizens with similar conditions and opportunities to learn and engage even individuals in modern or low-carbon energy models in ways that affect a wide range of citizens, counteracting the effects of their financial means or housing type.
The City of Ostrava had the opportunity to visit, observe and discuss this wide range of practices during the implementation of the POTEnT project. Thus, concrete examples from the project partners were presented, which Ostrava included as examples of good practice in its Regional Action Plan, which is the output of the project. In particular, the project partner Milton Keynes Council and its good practice Centralised Utility Bill Payment and Monitoring, the project partner ALOEN - Energy and climate local agency of South Brittany and its good practice Bretagne Energies Citoyennes and OnCIMè and the Swedish project partner Energikontor Sydost AB - Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden, which presented Cooperative solar plants - experience with community energy.
In the next part of the day, specific subsidy opportunities in the field of renewable energy and environmental protection in the context of the Czech Republic from the Operational Programme Environment 2021-2027 were presented. In the last part of the day, representatives of the Municipality of Ostrava presented their experience with the preparation of projects in the field of sustainable emission-free energy – specifically study for the installation of photovoltaic panels on the roofs of buildings owned by the city. This activity is a part of the Regional Action Plan and for Ostrava it is a transfer of good practice from the international environment to the local context. There was a great interest in the Import workshop event and the participants, together with the presenters, discussed the presented topics with interest.
