Sofia Energy Agency (SOFENA) and Active Consumers Association, organized an online workshop “Sustainable Impact of Energy Efficiency Measures on Consumer Behaviour – Challenges and Solutions”. The meeting was attended by 24 participants, representatives of the Agency for Sustainable Energy Development, Energy Agency Plovdiv, Sofiaplan, For the Earth, Sofia Energy Center, Center for Sustainable Housing, Faculty of Economics at Sofia University, EnEffect, National Trust Eco Fund, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund and Green Sofia.
The event took place within the framework of the Energy Conscious Consumers (ECO2) project, in which the Bulgarian partner is the Applied Research and Communications Fund. The aim of the project is to raise awareness of households in Europe on ways to reduce the amount of energy consumed, as well as to increase the energy efficiency of homes.
The focus of the meeting was the topics of households’ own renewable energy production and energy renovation of housing. During the meeting, current European and national policies on the topics were presented and discussions were held to outline the challenges to the sustainable impact of energy efficiency measures (at national and local level) on consumer behaviour, and recommendations were formulated to address these challenges. At the end of the meeting additional initiatives related to sustainable household energy consumption and fuel poverty were presented.
On the topic of households’ own generation of energy for personal needs, it was discussed that there are still open questions about the extent to which households can use the energy they produce for their own consumption, what happens to the surplus energy produced, whether it can be returned to the grid and under what conditions, whether it can be used only for self-consumption or for sale respectively. Questions were also raised about the lack of a regulatory framework that would introduce a net metering scheme for the electricity produced by a PV installation in a household, the low price of energy in Bulgaria compared to other countries in Europe, the lack of supportive financial mechanisms, as well as the low level of awareness and lack of opportunities for individual consultations for citizens and households willing to start producing energy themselves.
Challenges were also identified in home energy renovation, such as the lack of a clear policy and strategic framework on how financing models for energy renovation of residential buildings will evolve in the future, the lack of accountability and publicity to measure the impact of energy renovation, the lack of a variety of financial instruments for different groups of households, the initiative currently taken away from condominiums to implement energy renovation projects, etc. Participants were also unanimous about the negative effect of a 100 percent subsidy for household financing, which they said has made it much harder for citizens to be motivated and mobilized to renovate their homes by investing their own capital.
Among the recommendations for self-generation were the need to develop a user-friendly manual with steps and possible problems and solutions when a household decides to start generating energy for its own needs (or to sell), the establishment of one-stop-shops, the promotion of good practices and policies from abroad that have had a positive impact, the targeting of financial incentives to households and not only to large projects, etc.
On the topic of home energy renovation, it was recommended to introduce realistic tax incentives for switching to a higher energy class of housing, to conduct a massive information campaign to show citizens the other side of energy renovation – saved emissions and increased housing comfort, not just improvements on the facade, the creation of financial instruments to support energy poor households, better coordination between different policies to achieve common goals (for example, the fight against dirty air and the connection with energy efficiency).
The Energy Conscious Consumers (ECO2) project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 784988.
Applied Research and Communications Fund and Sofia Tech Park will partner to support innovation and entrepreneurship.
Sofia Tech Park, the Association for Research and Development and the Applied Research and Communications Fund signed a cooperation agreement for joint initiatives in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship, which include the National Contest “Innovative Enterprise of the Year,” held within the Innovation.bg initiative.
For more than 15 years, the Innovative Enterprise of the Year constest has promoted and encouraged the innovative activity of Bulgarian enterprises and their successful products and services among the general public. The awarded companies also receive the right to use the “Excellence in Innovation” label of the ARC Fund.
Sofia Tech Park is an important partner in the Innovative Enterprise of the Year competition of the Innovation.bg initiative to support innovative start-ups, small and medium enterprises, science-business links and the development of an innovative ecosystem, both on the territory of Sofia Tech Park and in the country.
Within the framework of the partnership between Sofia Tech Park and the Applied Research and Communications Fund, joint initiatives will be implemented to promote and upgrade the research and development capacity of the units in the Sofia Tech Park Laboratory Complex and the links between science and business for innovative projects. Collaborative work will also include initiatives in innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, green innovation and urban agriculture. The purpose of the agreement is also to promote and stimulate interactive learning for children and students interested in science, which is part of the mission and role of the interactive center of science and innovation in Sofia Tech Park – TechnoMagicLand, as well as organizing events, conferences and trainings to promote the business environment, innovation and entrepreneurship.
