Frýdlant Microregion, Czech Republic

Keywords: renewable energy region, 100% renewable energy self sufficiency region, Frýdlant Microregion, renewable energy in Frýdlant Microregion.


The Frýdlant microregion lies in northernmost part of the Czech Republic by the border with Poland and close to the border with Germany, it is a part of Liberec region (Figure 1) and also a part of the cross-border Nisa-Nysa-Neisse Euro region. The region comprises 4 towns and 14 municipalities; the total area is approximately 349 km2 and has approximately 24,300 inhabitants.[1]

Figure 1. Location of Frýdlant Microregion in Czech Repuclic[2]

The Frýdlant Microregion is an economically underdeveloped region. This is caused by problematic accessibility towards mainland (separated by a mountain ridge of Jizerské mountains), bad shape of technological infrastructure, historically grounded inadequate structure of agriculture, forestry, wood-processing industry and recession influenced textile industry, relatively low level of education and social stability of population. The micro region has the highest unemployment rate in Liberec region (approx. 20%).[1]


Energy Consumption
The total energy consumption in the area is 1,367,749 GJ (which is 379,930 MWh, based on data of the year 2001). 24% of this sum is electricity mostly imported from outside the region. The biggest share in current energy consumption is brown coal with 43% of total sum or nearly 60% of consumption excluding electricity (heating etc.). The largest consumer of brown coal is a company which uses 239,598 GJ (23%) of powdered brown coal. Share of renewable energy is less than 5%. Biomass has a major share with 53,100 GJ (Figure 2).[1]

Figure 2. Energy Consumption[1]


Focus on Renewable Energy
The focus on renewable energy technology to be used in the region are biomass for heating and wind power for electricity.[1]


Target[1]
  • The target of renewable energy development are to be 100% energy self-sufficiency, this self-sufficiency can be reached in four municipalities forming SeCeSe microregion.
  • Increasing the level of self-sufficiency by 48% in 2020.


The Czech Energy Agency (CEA)
It is an official national energy agency responsible for management of the State program for promotion of rational use of energy (RUE) and renewable energy sources (RES) in the Czech Republic.[1]


Integrated Energy Plan of the Frýdlant Microregion
Aim
The primary aim of the project was to support local administration of the Frýdlant microregion in regional planning for promotion of Rational Use of Energy (RUE) and Renewable Energy Sources (RES).[1]

Process[1]
  • Key target groups took part in the development of the proposal.
  • Municipalities as regional key stakeholders in the region were identified.
  • The Czech Energy Agency (CEA) was involved as a co-financier and had an important role in disseminating through presenting and distributing the outcomes of the action via its countrywide network of energy consultancy and information centres (EKIS).
  • The State Environmental Fund had a role to support of the implementation of identified pilot RES projects.
  • Steering committee was created to discuss with the project team major steps, to review the draft project results, and to participate in the dissemination activities (workshops and seminar).
  • ENVIROS s.r.o. as the coordinator worked close together with Power Service from Liberec.
  • IHKGesellschaft from Berlin and LandesEnergieVerein Steiermark (external consultant) transferred know-how about financial, technical and organizational issues.
  • The Mayor tried to persuade other neighbor communities to do similar work and to cooperate with the organizations of higher level (superior region administration and Czech Energy Agency) by the help of external consultants (financed through the project).
  • Many meetings had a lot of discussions. Within the meetings with the Austrian partner, it is decided to not only to speak or deliver papers about involving process, but to give a graspable tool to start local awareness campaign.

Parties Involved[1]
  • Target groups: the Association of municipalities of the “Frydlant microregion”, the individual in municipalities, the authorities of the Liberec region, end users, the Neisse-Nisa-Nysa Euroregion authorities.
  • Key stakeholders: : agriculture farms, forestry firms, public and commercial services, local industrial sector, NGOs, financiers (banks), energy suppliers, households.
  • Steering Committee: the Regional Development Agency, the Czech Energy Agency (CEA), and the State Environmental Fund.
  • Partners: ENVIROS s.r.o., IHKGesellschaft from Berlin and LandesEnergieVerein Steiermark.
  • The Mayor.

Awareness Campaign[1]
  • An exhibition about causality of energy and climate and the role of schools, created by LandesEnergieVerein in cooperation with Klimabündnis (in German, but was translated into Czech).
  • Interactive parts in the workshops which show how to involve other actors, when further meeting within the region would be carried out.

Finance
The total costs of the project was about 200 kEuro, 49% was a contribution from the EU Community. 33% of the funding was for Czech partners and 51% for partners from Germany and Austria.[1]

Results
  • A small biomass district heating system a capacity of 350 kW and two windmills with capacity of 600 kW were installed in May 2003 (Figure 3).[1]
Figure 3. Wind mills[1]
  • The action plans: identification of concrete measures and projects to be implemented; recommendation to be focused on organizational measures, creating infrastructure and instruments like energy consulting, awareness campaigns, education and trainings to reach the goals of self-sufficiency in using renewable energy.[1]

Status
The project was completed, a poster was produced in Czech and English (Figure 4).[1]

Figure 4. Poster of a completed project[1]

Lesson Learned
Experiences from the region:[1]
  • The municipalities themselves should be involved in an implementation process.
  • It might be easy to transfer technology but hard to transfer instruments for such a process.
Energy and development planning is a very complex process, where a lot of measures and activities go on parallel. Energy management therefore need to have an overview of the whole of one's territory in terms of energy and the environment, the knowledge to identify ways of achieving significant improvement of the energy situation with regard to consumption, production and distribution and the means to measure the energy and environmental impact of one's policies, and to monitor the situation over time.[1]


Information Related


List of References
  1. Integrated Energy Plan of the Frýdlant Microregion. http://www.managenergy.net/download/nr138.pdf. Accessed August 24, 2009.
  2. Czech Republic Map. http://www.a-1hotels.com/cz/assets/images/CzechRepublicMap.gif. Accessed June 01, 2010.
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