Work programme of the Energy Communities Platform

Independent public advice for energy communities is to be provided in Austria as a joint project of the federal and provincial governments. The on-site advice provided in the provinces by the established energy agencies and institutes will be supplemented by a central office, the Austrian Coordination Office for Energy Communities; together with the partner organisations in the provinces in close cooperation with the BMK and E-Control, this structure will ensure that the following objectives are achieved quickly and with optimum use of public funds:

- Many successful EEGs in Austria and many new renewable energy plants

- Utilisation of synergies in the development of knowledge and documentation

- Austria-wide, well-coordinated advisory network

- High quality of advice and service

- Independence

- Low threshold of access

- Proximity to implementing actors, practical suitability

- Proximity to legislative bodies and regulation

The project represents the structural development work for the basis of longer-term cooperation between the organisations that offer advice on the topic of energy communities in Austria on behalf of the federal government or the federal states.

The aim is to jointly build up expertise, utilise synergies in the development of information and training materials and contribute to the rapid success of the energy communities model through intensive networking with this well-coordinated independent advisory network throughout Austria. Forschung Burgenland, together with the state's Climate and Energy Department, is supporting this project from a Burgenland perspective.