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Description
The project aims at increasing the production of electricity from solar energy and strengthening the cooperation between Croatian and Norwegian entities from public and private sector and academic community. The project will result in annual electricity production of 981.87 MWh and annual reduction of 155.71 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
The project foresees the activities of 1) project management, 2) information and communication, 3) procurement and installation of integrated solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, 4) strengthening the capacity for management and promotion of energy from renewable sources and 5) enhancing cooperation among organizations in the beneficiary country (HR) and donor countries (NO).
Implementation of these activities will directly contribute to all programme results:
1) increasing the installed capacities for using renewable energy sources by implementing 29 pilot projects of installation of integrated PV systems on public buildings in 16 Croatian cities and municipalities, resulting in 0.83 MW of total power output.
2) strengthened capacities of representatives of public and private sector, civil society, citizens, pupils and students for management and promotion of energy from RES through the organization of 17 workshops, 3 conferences, application of augmented reality solution on 17 locations as well as other numerous contents used for communication with end users and target groups.
3) establishing and enhancing of bi-lateral relationships between organizations from Croatia and Norway in the area of management and promotion of energy from RES through the organization of 2 study trips aimed at establishing direct contacts between representatives of organizations from public and private sector and technical faculties that will exchange experience and present good practices to find opportunities for co-operation by working on common projects during and beyond the project lifetime.
Summary of project results
The project goal is aimed at increasing the production of electricity from solar energy and strengthening cooperation between Croatian and Norwegian subjects of the public and private sectors and the academic community.
The project directly contributes to Outcome 2 "Increased energy production from renewable sources" through the implementation of 29 pilot projects for the installation of FN power plants on public buildings. Also, the project contributed to the realization of immediate results 2.1 and 2.2, i.e. increasing the installed capacities for the use of energy from renewable sources through the installed FN power plants and strengthening the capacity for management and promotion of energy from renewable sources, mainly through the held workshops. In terms of bilateral immediate results, the project aimed to increase cooperation between entities in the beneficiary country and in the donor country (Norway), i.e. increase cooperation between the HR partner and the partner of the University of Stavanger from Norway.
Key statistics, trends and questions that the project aimed to answer are as follows:
- That only 0.65% of the total electricity production in Croatia comes from solar energy despite the fact that Croatia has 2400 to 2800 hours of sunshine per year and a high potential for utilizing solar energy.
- Lack of understanding about the environmental and economic benefits of solar electricity production, which are manifested through the reduction of CO2 emissions and financial savings, especially among younger generations and key stakeholders who manage projects related to energy use and energy infrastructure.
- That citizens consider the use of solar energy too expensive, less efficient and administratively too complex.
- Lack of awareness about how to access incentives and grants that support the purchase and installation of solar power plants.
- Limited availability of information on the best practices in the donor countries of the program (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) related to the successful management and promotion of electricity production from solar energy.
The project carried out 5 basic activities:
1) project management – defining the roles and structure of the project team, monitoring and reporting the project, coordination between all partners, contractors and the competent Ministry, monitoring the project''s finances and budget, and other activities key to the proper and high-quality execution of the project.
2) information and communication - coordination of the creation of the visual identity of the project and website, organization of the initial and final conferences, organization of 17 workshops with the aim of strengthening capacity for energy management and promotion, organization of 1 info day with the aim of promoting EnU and OIE, coordination of the implementation of AR solutions on 17 locations for the purpose of promoting and informing citizens, creation of informative and QR panels, creation of the final publication and final promotional video, preparation of press releases, monitoring of media announcements for the promotion of the project and other activities key to information and communication.
3) procurement and installation of integrated solar power plants - implementation of an innovative process of unified public procurement for construction and expert supervision for all 29 FN power plants on the project and additional unification of the procurement of 7 additional power plants from another project from the same Program called Green VTC (#29). Aggregation of 2 projects with the aim of increasing competitiveness and obtaining economically and qualitatively more profitable offers is key and innovative. The procedure was carried out for a total of 20 clients (of which 17 from the One Sun project) and 36 FN power plants (of which 29 from the One Sun project). Coordination of all key stakeholders (customers, expert supervision, contractor, HEP, NKT) in the installation process was extremely important for the successful execution of the project.
4) capacity building for the management and promotion of energy from renewable sources - capacity building activities are included in point 2.
5) increasing cooperation between entities in Croatia and Norway - includes study trips by the HR partner to Stavanger (NO) and the Norwegian partner in HR with the aim of establishing direct contacts between representatives of public and private sector entities and technical faculties who, through the exchange of experiences and the presentation of examples of good practices to find opportunities for cooperation by working on joint projects during the duration and after the end of the project. All partners also signed an Agreement on networking (understanding) with the aim of improving bilateral relations, encouraging the development of RES projects and reducing CO2 emissions in the future.
The implementation of the aforementioned activities contributed to all program results and key immediate results 2.1 and 2.2, which refer to installed capacities for the use of energy from renewable sources and strengthened capacities for managing and promoting renewable energy sources, but also to bilateral results:
1) Increasing the installed capacities for the use of renewable energy through 29 implemented pilot projects for the installation of integrated solar power plants with a total capacity of 882.04 kWp and with an estimated annual electricity production of 981.87 MWh and a reduction in CO2 emissions by 155.72 t/year. , on public buildings (schools, public administration buildings, kindergartens, faculties, sports halls, etc.)
2) Strengthened capacities for managing and promoting energy from the OI of representatives of the public, private and civil sectors as well as citizens, pupils and students in Croatia through the organization of 17 workshops, 1 info day, the application of augmented reality technology at 17 locations and numerous other contents intended for communication with the ultimate users and target groups.
3) Establishing and improving bilateral relations between subjects from the Republic of Croatia and the Kingdom of Norway in the field of management and promotion of energy from OI through the organization of 2 study trips with the aim of establishing direct contacts between representatives of subjects of the public and private sectors and technical faculties who, through the exchange of experiences and presentation examples of good practice to find opportunities for cooperation by working on joint projects during the duration and after the end of the project. In addition, an Agreement on networking (understanding) was signed with the aim of improving bilateral relations, encouraging the development of RES projects and reducing CO2 emissions in the future.
The main target groups benefiting from the project are:
1) Representatives of the public, private and civil sectors who are associated with projects for the use of renewable energy sources for energy production. The target groups from the public sector are representatives of utility companies and departments for spatial planning and construction in local and regional self-governments and the academic community. Representatives of the civil society sector include those who work or volunteer in non-governmental organizations and work in the field of energy production from renewable sources, and representatives of the private sector include IT experts, equipment suppliers, contractors and other companies working on RES projects, especially solar energy. By participating in conference events, workshops and study trips (in Croatia and Norway), they gained new knowledge and thus strengthened their capacities for managing and promoting the production of electricity from solar energy in Croatia. After this project, representatives of the public sector and the civil society sector can better plan future projects and provide citizens with more information about the technical and financial possibilities for building solar power plants in their area, while representatives of the private sector have gained additional knowledge and information that they need for their own similar projects. projects.
2) Pupils in primary and secondary schools and students - the solution in augmented reality, i.e. the interactive AR application that was implemented through the project, is especially interesting for the younger population, who in the future will assume the role of project holders and will be key stakeholders in the energy transition. The AR app has for the purpose of educating users about technologies and the possibilities of using RES. Also, an online workshop was held to strengthen capacity at the Geotechnical Faculty of Varaždin, which is intended and adapted for students.
3) Citizens - by getting information about the project through the partnership websites, online materials, and news about the project, citizens are informed about the benefits of using solar energy and are more willing to support actions in their community and even install solar power plants on their properties. It is especially important to emphasize the implementation of the initial conference and workshops with a focus on the process of installing FN power plants in family homes for their own needs and opportunities for financing through FZOEU and local/regional sources. In this way, the communication activities served as a means to encourage citizens to adopt new technologies and build their own infrastructure, which will also contribute to their involvement, which is necessary in order to achieve the long-term goals related to sustainable development from this program, as well as the energy and climate goals of the EU. In the preparation and implementation of the activities of this project, the partners incorporated the acquired knowledge and experience from their previous projects. It is important to emphasize that the partnership also includes the signatory cities of the Covenant of Mayors for climate and energy - Varaždin, Koprivnica, Ludbreg, Križevci and Đakovo, which have pledged to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 55% by 2030. year and this project contribute directly and indirectly to the fulfillment of the stated goals. The project also contributes to the achievement of the goals of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), by which the Republic of Croatia predicted a share of 64% of the total electricity production from RES and 1.9 GW of production capacity from solar energy by 2030. These plans and laws are adapted to the European Green Plan (EU Green Deal), which is currently in force until 2030, and this project represents an important step in reaching the goals of Croatia''s energy transition.
Summary of bilateral results
REA North and Croatian partners organized bilateral activities with a partner from Norway (University of Stavanger). These activities improved the exchange of knowledge about solar energy production, made the project results sustainable and contributed to the development of new activities that promote green energy production and reduce CO2 emissions in Croatia and Norway. The activities of establishing bilateral cooperation included:1) Four-day study trip to Stavanger. The purpose of this trip is to find out how solar energy (and other RES) is managed in Stavanger. Activities on the study trip include: Presentations on RES innovations and best practices in solar energy; meetings on the development of new EU projects focused on RES; presentations on the successes of Stavanger and their policies in reducing CO2 emissions and promoting renewable energy sources; visits to locations where solar energy and other RES are used (such as non-integrated FNE at the airport, FN panels integrated into the facade of the building, factory of battery systems, etc.)2) Four-day study trip to Croatia. In order to encourage cooperation between Croatia and Norway and to demonstrate the advantages of the pilots developed in this project, a study trip was organized for 2 Norwegian participants to Croatia. The trip included visits to project locations where photovoltaic power plants were installed, meetings to exchange best practices in the development of solar energy projects, and presentations by Norwegian and Croatian participants at the final conference held at the Geotechnical Faculty in Varaždin.3) Signing of the networking agreement. The main focus of the agreement is on improving bilateral relations between Norway and Croatia in managing and encouraging the transition to renewable sources and reducing CO2 emissions.