Today I visited a company called Energieagentur Regio Freiburg. Its a super interesting set-up: basically an energy advice/planning/research contracting company with three share-holders - Freiburgs city council, a society representing local renewable energy agencies, and an association of local building/construction companies. The goal of the company is to promote regional energy efficiency and renewable energy development, to ensure the region is prepared to play a role in the modern energy economy. It has grown (since it was founded in 1999) to the point of now employing 16 people full time - energy experts from various different fields: engineering, architecture, communication. The company is often contracted by the Council to undertake various different projects, some more business as usual e.g. information dissemination on household energy efficiency, and some more specific, e.g. maximising energy outcomes on various specific city projects. However it also contracts to private companies and other towns/cities in the region needing input and advice on energy matters. Acknowledging that Im relying on information from just the one meeting, it seemed to me benefits of the entity are as follows: * For the Council, the pool of energy expertise it can draw on is larger/more diverse than if it applied the same level of resource to in-house staff. * Because of the relationship between the various shareholding entities, it also means there is commitment to drawing on the expertise of the energy experts for projects in different sectors, city-wide. * For the other partners, they know they have a high quality resource to help them develop and improve their product should they need that expertise, and an agency that is effectively helping citizens understand the value of their products, albeit not necessarily directly. * The company responds to requests for involvement, but also promotes/develops their own projects, meaning the city has talented minds working together constantly to proactively identify and design regional projects that promote energy efficiency and the renewable energy sector. * It also regularly partners with a large local employer, that being the Fraunhofer Solar Research Institute (1300 FTEs), amongst others. It seems the Energieargentur plays a role in supporting and connecting the different elements of the (impressive!) renewable energy ecosystem in Freiburg. Funding - While it had a small amount of funding from its shareholders to begin with, and also received some funding from the EU, it now operates solely on project-based income. Any profit earned by the company is directed back to the shareholders. All food for thought for me as staff work towards a final draft of our Energy Plan. Disclaimer: our meeting was conducted entirely in German, and whilst Ive done my best to ensure my understanding and translations are accurate, its possible there are inaccuracies in this post!
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 00:05:18 +0000
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