Urban energy efficiency and energy community

“Our cooperation with the city of Szolnok goes back many years, and with this agreement we have taken another big step towards an even more sustainable future. This investment is particularly important for us, not only because we are implementing a unique, forward-looking community solution, but also because we have found a partner in the municipality who, like us, wants to actively fight climate change and is leading the way. We work every day for these shared successes and we want to be an example to others.”
Zsolt Jamniczky, deputy CEO

Company name:

E.ON Hungária Group

Implementation Year:

From 2022

Focus Areas:

Climate protection and adaptation, Alternative energy use and energy efficiency, Stakeholders, local communities, Consumer awareness

Program Objective:

Energy communities are community, non-profit organisations made up of individuals, public institutions and businesses that offer a stable and environmentally friendly solution to energy supply.

The aim of the Szolnok Smart Municipal Energy Model is to build a complex, energy-efficient, innovative energy system that can simultaneously meet the needs of consumers, producers and the grid connected to the municipal network, and optimise the energy distribution and use processes between the different units.

Under the cooperation, 9 solar power plants with a total capacity of 330 kW will be set up at 6 locations to serve Szolnok’s energy needs, and energy communities will be established to further help use the energy generated efficiently. The investment will provide an environmentally friendly and forward-looking energy supply solution, helping to operate more cost-effectively and reduce energy expenditure.

Program Measures and Commitments:

The modernisation of the buildings of the institutions of the municipality has a significant impact on reducing energy demand and thus on maintenance costs. The project will therefore:

we are replacing facade doors and windows in 3 apartment buildings and 6 other institutional buildings (nursery, kindergartens, doctor’s office, nursery management office), as well as
we perform facade thermal insulation on approximately 4,883 m2 of wall surface and
slab thermal insulation on 3022 m2.

In these buildings we will also upgrade the heating, replacing around 82 boilers with new, modern, energy-efficient condensing gas boilers, including chimney restoration and replacement of radiators.
To meet energy needs, new decentralised solar PV systems will be installed on the roofs of 9 buildings with an installed capacity of 331.75 kWp, in the form of small household-scale power plants. We are also installing an innovative solar covered carport, which will provide covered parking for 15 cars in addition to generating electricity. We will also install five AC car chargers, each with a capacity of 1×22 kW, and a DC charger with a capacity of 75 kW. This will ensure access and development of electromobility for the population.

Both the municipality and E.ON are committed to maintaining and further developing the energy efficiency and innovative improvements created by the project. The current phase includes the integration of the designated buildings into the energy community and the maximisation of the members’ consumption of locally produced renewable energy. Future plans include the inclusion of other buildings in the municipality and the inclusion of consumers living in the municipality’s rental housing in the energy community. In addition, the continuous monitoring of consumption will provide the opportunity to balance consumption and generation in the future by using storage, which through further optimisation will provide the opportunity to increase local energy supply and thus cost-effective maintenance.

Program Impact and Results:

The project is in the construction phase, so final results are not available. Based on our calculations, the installation of nearly 5,000 m2 of modern insulation and the replacement of windows and doors will significantly reduce the heating demand of the consumers living in the apartments, while modern gas boilers will result in reduced gas costs and lower emissions. The more than 330 kW of solar PV systems to be installed will generate at least 400 MWh of electricity per year: a saving of nearly 100 tonnes of CO2. The 5 fast chargers and 1 electric charger to be installed will make a significant contribution to supporting the spread of e-mobility.

The project will have an impact on the entire population of Szolnok, reaching nearly 70 000 people.

Key words:

energy communities, energy efficiency, energy supply, partnership