The City of Ostrava continues to implement the objectives that were set out in the Regional Action Plan (RAP) of the POTEnT project, approved by the City Council on 21 June 2022, and on which the last - monitoring - year of the project is based. Within the 2 measures that Ostrava has chosen to implement has been the Pilot realisation of the production of electricity from photovoltaic panels in selected buildings in the city of Ostrava. The public procurement for the project documentation, launched in May 2023 has finally came to its results!
The RAP lists 12 objects owned by the city, where the possibility of applying photovoltaic panels has already been examined by the Feasibility Study and Assessment of the Technical Solution for the Installation of Photovoltaic Panels on the Roofs of Selected Objects of the Statutory City of Ostrava, prepared by VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies, Research Energy Centre in 2022.
In the RAP there were a total of 12 structures under consideration for using photovoltaic panels in the city - they are buildings owned by the City of Ostrava. These are two senior citizens homes, allowance organisations of the City of Ostrava. There will also be a check on the option of using photovoltaic panels on the roof of Sheltered Housing (accommodation for senior citizens and young married couples), Treatment Home for the Long-term Sick and 8 pavilions at the Ostrava City Hospital site. Compared to the original RAP plan, one more home for elderly – Sluníčko was added on the basis of the buildings revisions.
The aim of this measure is to verify in practice a pilot solution in the field of electricity production from renewable sources in the city of Ostrava. The sites were selected with an emphasis on year-round and all-day operation and with regard to spatial conditions. The study investigated the suitability, efficiency and economics of implementing this type of investment, examined the possibilities and methods of implementation, the individual performance parameters of the possible solution, the basic setup in terms of achieving the highest possible effect in the given conditions and also evaluated the return on investment, and therefore the meaningfulness of the investment also at the level of socio-economic measurable and invaluable benefits.
The next step is the preparation of project documentation and the selection of a contractor for the installation of photovoltaic panels in individual buildings. This pilot (and demonstration) project will help to increase interest in the use of photovoltaics in the city's energy management and can be expected to create the preconditions (after overcoming legislative barriers) for the implementation of community energy, and in particular for a more massive production of green electricity in the city, which will help to reduce the carbon footprint.
After evaluation of the bids received, the decision was made and three contractors of the separate project documentations were selected. Project documentation is now planned to be finished in the year of 2023 and next year is the year of panel installation.
These projects are included in the list of strategic ITI projects to be co-financed from the Operational Programme Environment (2021-2027), Specific objective 2.1: Promotion of energy from renewable sources. Measure 1.2.1 Construction and reconstruction of renewable energy sources for public buildings.
In this way, the City of Ostrava combines the lessons learned from European projects in implementation with the use of available funding for investment projects.
