Careful energy management benefits everybody – individuals and the city as a whole!!!
The international project POTEnT (whose name is derived from the English phrase ‘Public Organizations Transform Energy Transition’) focuses on sharing experience among European cities and preparing for the expansion of Ostrava’s Sustainable Energy Action Plan. The core mission of the project is to support the development of measures and mechanisms to achieve more rapid reductions in carbon emissions by offering high-quality alternative energy solutions to local and regional government authorities and organizations controlled by them.
Local and regional government bodies can offer a positive alternative to private-sector provision of energy services as well as indirect support for community energy management. Potential for further reductions in carbon emissions lies both in energy savings and in the integration of new energy sources or virtual trading mechanisms into current practices; these innovations can be implemented in a targeted manner depending on local circumstances and opportunities, driven by the responsibility of individual stakeholders within local-level energy management systems.
Even in the current private-sector system, municipalities and their organizations are becoming active players, seeking to achieve all the above-mentioned goals.
The project is funded via the EU programme Interreg Europe.
About the project
The POTEnT project is based on inter-regional cooperation among partners sharing their experiences of the development of local policies in sustainable energy management. Its aim is to help communities, cities and regions to develop and improve locally provided energy services, thus assisting them in achieving a quicker and broader-based transition to the principles of a low-carbon economy. The project will also help to update and expand the City of Ostrava’s Sustainable Energy Action Plan, leading to the creation of new processes and organizational structures that will help Ostrava become the Czech Republic’s showcase city for modern, forward-looking energy management practices.
Project goals
The goal of the POTEnT project is to provide innovative solutions to a major challenge currently facing European cities and regions – how to achieve further reductions in carbon emissions by harnessing the potential of direct involvement of individuals and communities via local initiatives. There is a pressing need to reduce carbon emissions, which is reflected not only in global agreements, but also in the ambitious goals set by the EU and the Czech Republic.
Regional and local government bodies can offer a positive alternative to today’s private sector provision of energy services by enabling the city and its people to become involved in effective community-based projects focusing on the use of renewable energy, the systematic development of technologies and energy resources as part of the circular economy, and improved efficiency of energy management processes. In order for municipalities to become fully-fledged actors on the energy market, they need to have access to a solid knowledge base, including information and experience shared by organizations that have already set out on this path or are in the process of doing so. In a broader context, it is essential to transfer or develop legal mechanisms, funding mechanisms, and processes for involving communities and citizens – who must gain a clear benefit from becoming involved.
The main goal of the POTEnT project is to support the development of measures and mechanisms for the more rapid reduction of carbon emissions by enabling local and regional government authorities and their organizations to provide energy services to a high standard.
Project activities:
- to analyze the strategies used by all partners – in the case of Ostrava, the strategies are set out in the City’s Sustainable Energy Action Plan, and the aim is to expand and update the plan to include tried-and-tested methods and processes which will bring tangible improvements
- to identify good practices and transfer them to local conditions
- to explore the options for creating a public-sector organization or organizational structure for providing energy services (functioning as an ESCO), and to identify tools for the further development and improvement of these services to grow their market share
- to support and plan investments in low-carbon projects and to identify the options for strengthening local powers and communities
- to formulate specific proposals and recommendations for improvements – i.e. to create an action plan for updating current processes, organizational structures and measures to reduce carbon emissions and apply the principles of smart energy management
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| ALOEN – Energy and Climate Local Agency of South Brittany (France) | City of Parma (Italy) | City of Pamplona (Spain) | Milton Keynes (UK) |
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| Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden | Tartu Regional Energy Agency (Estonia) | Ettlingen Municipal Services Agency (Germany) | Erasmus Center for Urban, Port and Transport Economics BV (Netherlands) |
