The South Moravian Region yesterday established “sdílEjme”, a new energy community which will bring together municipalities, businesses, and small private energy producers, to share electricity from renewable sources. The community is intended to save money, optimize electricity production and consumption, bring about environmental benefits, and strengthen regional competences in the field of energy.
The establishment of the regional energy community was approved by regional councillors on Monday, before being constituted yesterday as an association of ten founding members.
“The sdílEjme regional energy community project has the ambition to become one of the largest of its kind in the Czech Republic, and we see it as an important step towards modern and sustainable energy that combines economic savings, environmental benefits and the involvement of a wide range of members,” said regional councillor David Grund.
The guarantor of the energy community project is the South Moravian Energy Agency s.r.o. (JIMEG), whose sole shareholder is the South Moravian Region. JIMEG will provide professional supervision, coordination and development of the energy community.
The energy community was established yesterday by representatives of the region and the association’s founding members. Credit: JMK
The principle of an energy community is to connect producers and consumers of electricity. “Excess energy, especially from photovoltaic power plants, will be used in facilities with high consumption, such as regional hospitals or social service facilities. In this way, electricity will be consumed where it is most needed,” said Grund.
Now the project has been established, it will be joined by regional contributory organizations that have their own photovoltaics or are significant consumers of electricity. “In this initial phase of the project, it is expected that about 150 MWh of electricity will be shared annually. However, the volume is to be gradually increased to at least 2,000 MWh. To achieve this, the energy community will seek new members, especially from municipalities, civic organizations or companies that have significant electricity surpluses,” explained Libuše Podolová, executive director of JIMEG.
The region will provide the majority of the funding for the energy community in the first year of its operation. After that, the community will operate thanks to income from electricity sharing fees, and in the future, also from income from the provision of other services. “Our goal is for the energy community to bring savings and stability to contributory organizations and become an inspiration for other entities in the region,” said Podolová.
“The roofs of our premises are either green or covered with photovoltaic panels,” said Radim Hrnčiřík from Sonnentor, one of the founding members of the community. “Sustainability and locality are key topics for us. If we can help each other in terms of energy within the region, it makes a lot of sense for us.”
Anna Kacejová from another initial member, Junák – Czech Scout, Kaprálův mlýn, also confirmed the importance of the project. “The main benefit of the involvement of the Kaprálův mlýn Scout Center for Ecological Education is the promotion of direct experience with shared energy through educational programs for schools and the public.”
The Brno FabLab is also among the founding members. “We believe in sharing and an open approach to production, technologies and knowledge,” said its head Tomáš Mejzlík. “sdílEjme fits in beautifully with that concept, this time in the field of energy, which is absolutely essential for us to move forward as a region, the Czech Republic and the whole of Europe. We are happy to be there.”
