OÖ Energiesparverband

The winner of the Young Energy Researchers Award 2017 is Fabian Moisl for his diploma thesis "Profitability analysis of operational strategies of battery energy storage systems". Fabian Moisl grew up in Hellmonsödt/Upper Austria, graduated from the HTL Linz LiTec and is currently working at the Vienna University of Technology. The excellent work examines the different possibilities of using battery storage systems and contributes to the optimised integration of renewable energy forms into the overall energy system. Info: Young Energy Researchers Award 2017 (in German)

Together with Berufsschule 8, the vocational school for heating installers, the OÖ Energiesparverband/Cleantech Cluster organised five technical site visits to cluster partner companies. Under the title "energy professionals of tomorrow", a total of 217 students participated in the events and visited the companies Gasokol, Guntamatic, ÖkoFEN, Fröling, ETA, KNV, Hargassner and Solarfocus. The site visits offered students the opportunity to ask specific questions on-site and make contacts with the companies. Link: www.ctc-energy.at

The Innovation Forum organised by the OÖ Energiesparverband informed participants on how to systematically identify energy efficiency potentials in manufacturing companies. It presented innovative solutions for increasing efficiency and using renewable energy sources for manufacturing in various industries (i.e. metal processing, mechanical and automotive engineering and plastics). Info: Further information (in German)

The region of Upper Austria extended its Energy Contracting Program (ECP) until the end of 2020. Projects can receive funding of up to 75,000 Euro with funding rates of max. 40 % depending on the type of project. Over 200 projects have already been funded. Funding is available for investments of 50,000-250,000 Euro eligible costs. Link:  www.energiesparverband.at (in German)

The aim is to support partner companies of the Cleantech-Cluster to develop new markets. The programme supports the first sales of a product to a new market. So far four projects were supported. Link: www.ctc-energy.at

The European Pellet Conference, the largest annual pellet event worldwide, will take place from 27 – 28 February 2019 in Wels/Austria. Visited by over 450 experts each year, it is the meeting place for the global pellet community. The event delivers latest news about markets, technologies and policies and provides valuable networking opportunities. The conference is held in parallel with the "Energiesparmesse", a leading energy tradeshow with more than 100 pellet-related exhibitors. The European Pellet Conference is organised by the OÖ Energiesparverband as part of the "World Sustainable Energy Days" (WSED), one of Europe’s largest annual conferences in the fields of energy. Link: World Sustainable Energy Days

Many innovations in digitisation and new business models come from the USA. Therefore, a trip to the leading US state of innovation, Massachusetts, was organised. The extensive program included visits to companies, research centres (including a day at the MIT) and institutions. The trip offered information and cooperation opportunities regarding topics of smart products, energy storage and new business models, among others. CTC-Link: Further information (in German)

The European Pellet Conference, the largest annual pellet event worldwide, will take place from 28 February – 01 March 2018 in Wels/Austria. Visited by over 500 experts each year, it is the meeting place for the global pellet community. The event delivers the latest news about markets, technologies and policies and provides valuable networking possibilities. The conference is held in parallel with the "Energiesparmesse", a major energy tradeshow with more than 100 pellet-related exhibitors. The European Pellet Conference is organised by the OÖ Energiesparverband as part of the "World Sustainable Energy Days" (WSED), one of Europe’s largest annual conferences in the fields of energy. Link: www.wsed.at

In its series "OEC Careers", the OEC has been collaborating with universities and schools to organise excursions to OEC-partner companies.
The main goals are to encourage the pursuit of a career in the field of eco-energy and to offer students the opportunity to establish contact with the companies. Overall almost 110 students took part in the excursions. Link: www.oec.at

The European Pellet Conference, the largest annual pellet event worldwide, will take place from 01 – 02 March 2017 in Wels/Austria. Visited by over 600 experts each year, it is the meeting place for the global pellet community. The event delivers the latest news about markets, technologies and policies and provides valuable networking possibilities. The conference is held in parallel with the "Energiesparmesse", a leading energy tradeshow with more than 100 pellet-related exhibitors. The European Pellet Conference is organised by the OÖ Energiesparverband as part of the "World Sustainable Energy Days" (WSED), one of Europe’s largest annual conferences in the fields of energy. Link: www.wsed.at

The Northeast Biomass Heating Expo is one the fastest-growing biomass thermal energy conferences in the United States. The event was held in Burlington, in the state of Vermont. In the context of an export and internationalisation initiative by the region of Upper Austria, the Eco-Energy Cluster was present at the Expo along with a delegation of 5 cluster partners. The delegation took the opportunity to organise several meetings and site visits. The aim of the trip was to strengthen the presence of Upper Austrian companies on the North American market and to support international cooperation. Link: www.oec-en.at

The European Pellet Conference, the largest annual pellet event worldwide, will take place from 24 - 25 February 2016 in Wels/Austria. Visited by over 600 experts each year, it is the meeting place for the global pellet community. The event delivers the latest news about markets, technologies and policies and provides valuable networking possibilities. The conference is held in parallel with the "Energiesparmesse", a leading energy tradeshow with more than 100 pellet-related exhibitors. The European Pellet Conference is organised by the OÖ Energiesparverband as part of the "World Sustainable Energy Days" (WSED), one of Europe’s largest annual conferences in the fields of energy. Link: www.wsed.at

An international training seminar on biomass heating, organised by the OÖ Energiesparverband/Oekoenergie-Cluster, took place from 14 - 17 September 2015 in Linz, Austria. Based on the experience in Upper Austria, the 3-day seminar provided know-how on local market development and technologies for automatic biomass heating. The programme focused on small- to mid-scale wood pellets and wood chip projects. The seminar was targeted at representatives of businesses, public bodies, institutions, NGOs, etc. interested in developing local/regional biomass heating markets. The participants offered positive feedback about the seminar and enjoyed their stay in Upper Austria. OEC-Link: International Training Seminar

Christiane Egger, manager of the Oekoenergie-Cluster and deputy manager of the OÖ Energiesparverband, was granted the "Excellence in Bioenergy Award". This prize recognises leaders that are fundamental to the growth of the bioenergy industry in North-America. For the first time, the award went to a person outside the United States. Christiane Egger was also a finalist for the European Cluster Manager Award. OEC-Link: Oekoenergie-Cluster

The EU project Streetlight-EPC, coordinated by the ESV, supports municipalities and energy service companies (ESCOs) in the implementation of efficient street lighting projects. The following tools were developed and are available in 10 languages:

• a guide that provides step-by-step information on the implementation of LED street lighting refurbishment projects
• a checklist for a first assessment of the economic feasibility of refurbishment projects
• a list of FAQs on streetlight Energy Performance Contracting

Link: www.streetlight-epc.eu

In a new edition of the energy-saving programme for low-income households in Upper Austria, the action is being extended to three districts. The aim of this action is to reduce the electricity costs of low-income households in a long-term perspective through energy advice and the exchange of electrical appliances. The programme is managed by the OÖ Energiesparverband. During the previous edition of the programme, 256 families received energy advice and more than 200 household appliances were exchanged for new, high-efficiency models. Link: www.weg-aus-der-energiearmut.at (in German)

• The share of renewable energy in the total energy demand (end energy) increased from 33 % (2005) to 39 % (2013).
• The "de-coupling" of economic growth (+ 29 % since 2005) from the growth of gross energy demand (+ 4 % since 2005) has been achieved.
• The consumption of fossil oil and gas has decreased since 2005.
• The absolute amount of renewable heat (including district heating) and its percentage value of 44.5 % of the overall heat demand (59.8 % of the space heating demand) have reached an "all-time high".
• In 2014, more than 2,500 new modern biomass heating systems, around 1,900 heat pumps and an additional 30,000 m² of solar thermal collectors were installed.
• Due to energy saving measures supported by the region of Upper Austria, more than 3.4 billion kWh are saved annually.

Link: Upper Austrian Energy Future 2030

An international training seminar on biomass heating is organised by the OÖ Energiesparverband / Ökoenergie-Cluster from 8 – 11 September 2014 in Linz, Austria. The 3-day seminar will provide know-how on local market development and technologies for automatic biomass heating, based on the experience in Upper Austria. The seminar programme is fully-focused on small- to mid-scale wood pellets and wood chip projects. OEC-Link: International Training Seminar

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the region of Upper Austria and the State of Vermont, facilitated by the OEC on the Austrian side and the Biomass Energy Resource Center at VEIC on the Vermont side. The MoU focuses on biomass heating and energy efficiency and ensures a long-lasting collaboration between the two regions. The activities encompass policy cooperation in this field, technological topics and training. Website: www.oec-en.at

The OEC and four biomass boiler manufacturers from the Oekoenergie-Cluster (Fröling, Hargassner, ÖkoFEN and Windhager) were present at the important conference/expo "North East Biomass Heating Expo" in Portland/Maine. They presented their products at the expo and are interested in the New England market with its significant potential for modern automatic biomass heating systems. Christiane Egger from the OEC team was invited as a keynote speaker for the conference.

More than 140 participants (among them planners, architects, managing directors and facility managers) attended OEC's recent innovation forum on energy-efficient company buildings. The conference presented energy-efficient buildings for different uses (super markets, production plants, office buildings, shops, logistic halls, hotels and service buildings), newly built as well as refurbished. OEC partner companies presented their products and services in an accompanying exhibition. OEC-Link: OEC Innovationsforum (in German)

The OÖ Energiesparverband coordinates a new EU project on energy performance contracting (EPC) projects for streetlighting with 19 European partners. The project partners aim to implement 36 EPC street lighting projects in the project’s lifetime. This will help create knowledge and trust in both LED technologies and the EPC model. Recently, the kick off meeting was held in Linz. OEC-Link: www.streetlight-epc.eu

The Oekoenergie-Cluster (OEC) offers a new service in German: the OEC App provides up-to-date information on energy efficiency and renewable energy companies in Upper Austria. The app features an overview of products and services, information about the partner companies, a search function for sectors and technologies and the latest news on renewable energy and energy efficiency from Upper Austria. The app is available for free download in the stores of Apple and Google. OEC-Link: The Oekoenergie-Cluster App (in German)

• The share of renewable energy in the total energy consumption (end energy) increased from 32 % (2005) to 39.8 % (2012).
• The decoupling of economic growth and total energy consumption was achieved.
• The use of fossil fuels has decreased by 19 % since 2005.
• Due to energy saving measures supported by the region of Upper Austria, more than 3.1 billion kWh are saved annually.
• In 2013, more than 4,000 new biomass heating systems and 43,000 m² thermal solar collectors were installed.

OEC-Link: Upper Austrian Energy Future 2030

Due to their positive business development, a number of OEC partner companies built new office buildings and/or production plants or enlarged their existing facilities in the last year. More than 45 Mio. Euros were invested by more than 10 OEC partner companies and facilitated more than 50.000 m² additional floor space.

In their efforts to support OEC cluster companies in the development of export markets, the OEC team organised a market exploration tour to Chile. Five partner companies (ÖkoFEN, Scheuch, Windhager, Cona, Fronius) joined the trip and were on-site to network and meet potential partners. Over 20 meetings and site visits, as well as 25 B2B meetings set the basis for a successful trip. This trip was planned in collaboration with the Chilean Energy Agency. OEC-Link: Review export trip (in German)

• European Pellet Conference, 26 - 27 February
• European Nearly Zero Energy Buildings Conference, 27 - 28 February
• WSEDnext Young Researchers Conference, 26 – 27 February
• Innovative Building Technologies Conference, 28 February
• European Energy Efficiency Policies Conference, 27 February
• Trade-show "Energiesparmesse", 26 February – 2 March

Link: www.wsed.at

This support programme, offered by the regional government of Upper Austria and managed by the OÖ Energiesparverband, supports the installation of PV systems on Upper Austrian schools and promotes the topics of green electricity and electricity-saving at school. The first edition of this support program was a large success with the participation of 286 schools. During this second edition, ending in June 2014, a further 170 Upper Austrian school will have the opportunity to become “solar schools”. Link: PV macht Schule (in German)

In the context a local tradeshow, Energy Centre Budweis, OEC and WKO organised a cross-border workshop with collaboration forum. Around 25 companies from Upper Austria and the South Bohemian region that are interested in collaborations in the fields of energy efficiency and eco-energy took this opportunity to get to know each other and exchange ideas.

An international training seminar on biomass heating is organised by the OÖ Energiesparverband from 9 - 12 September 2013 in Linz/Austria. This 3-day seminar will provide know-how on local market development and technologies for automatic biomass heating, based on the experience in Upper Austria. It will focus on small- and mid-scale projects, fuelled by wood pellets and wood chips, covering solutions for homes, smaller commercial/public buildings and district heating grids (up to a few hundred kW). OEC-Link: International Training Seminar Biomass Heating 2013

The OEC presents new biomass reports in English and Spanish. The English version "Biomass heating in Upper Austria" was updated and now the report is also available in Spanish: "Calefacción con biomasa en la región de Alta Austria". On 40 pages, the reports give an overview on the biomass market in Upper Austria, heating technologies, biomass fuels, policy instruments and business models.
OEC-Link: Publications Oekoenergie-Cluster

An important activity of the Oekoenergie-Cluster is export support for partner companies. A survey among partners showed a special interest in the Chilean market. Therefore, an export tour is organised to Chile from 29 June - 6 July 2013. The aim is to better get to know the Chilean market for renewable energy and to develop partnerships. In preparation, 21 participants from 5 countries took part in a seminar in Linz presenting detailed market information on biomass and solar in Chile. OEC-Link: Info seminar "Erneuerbare Energie in Chile" (in German)

The European Pellet Conference 2013 took place from 27 - 28 February 2013 in the frame of the World Sustainable Energy Days (WSED). Six OEC partner companies participated as cooperation partners and took the opportunity to present their products. In total, more than 800 participants from 61 countries took part in the WSED 2013. The next European Pellet Conference will take place from 26 - 27 February 2014. The deadline for the Call for Papers is 10 October 2013. Info: World Sustainable Energy Days 2013

• The total energy demand (final energy) in 2011 was 3.8% below that of the year 2010.
• The share of renewable energy in the total energy consumption increased from 29% (2005) up to 31.5% (2011). In the production industries, the increase even amounted to more than 50%.
• PV installed capacity has doubled in 2012 (4,100 new plants with an installed capacity of 39.5 MWp in 2012), since 2005, the installed PV capacity increased by a factor of 14 (in total 9,100 plants are installed with a capacity of 70 MWp).

Info: www.esv.or.at

• New funding programme "Export and internationalisation for green energy and environmental technologies" of the Upper Austrian government
• The programme supports Upper Austrian green energy and environmental engineering businesses in the market entry in selected regions in and outside Europe.
• Duration: January 2013 - June 2014

OEC-Link: www.oec.at

286 Upper Austrian schools are participating in the regional programme "PV for schools" and 146 of these "solar schools" are available on the online data base: 95 primary schools, 46 secondary schools and 5 vocational schools. In total, these 146 schools have installed 458,4 kWp PV systems. More than 200 teachers have been trained so far in seminars about solar energy and energy efficiency in schools. Info: www.pv-schule.at (in German)

Solar energy used by commercial and industrial companies for process heat purposes is still in a very early stage of market development. The company Fixkraft (animal feed) in Enns/Upper Austria has recently implemented a solar process heat installation and organised an information seminar and site visit together with the OEC. 45 participants took the opportunity to see the systems and discuss technical aspects. OEC-Link: Information seminar and site visit "Solar process heat" (in German)

The "Energie-Star 2013", the Upper Austrian award for successful sustainable energy projects, was awarded within the World Sustainable Energy Days. The winner projects are:

• Housing: generation living at a low-energy farm (Greindl)
• Companies: employees' energy saving measures (Sparkasse OÖ)
• Communities: "Energy Future" Freistadt
• Schools: Secondary school Waldzell
• Pioneers: 100 % energy supply from renewables at home (family Hopfner)
• Journalists: Roman David-Freihsl, Oeko-Standard

Info: www.energiestar.at (in German)

The World Sustainable Energy Days, one of the largest annual events in this field in Europe held in Wels/Upper Austria, offer a unique combination of events in 2013:

• European Pellet Conference
• Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"
• Conference WSED next for young researchers
• LED Conference
• Energy Efficiency Watch Conference
• Trade show, technical site-visits, poster presentations

Conference programme and further information: www.wsed.at

The Oekoenergie-Cluster cooperates with clusters from Finland (Merinova) and Spain (Cluster de Energía) in a project called "REINA". The project focuses on the design and the implementation of joint and cluster specific internationalisation strategies for renewable energy and sustainable energy technologies and solutions. In the course of the project, the Oekoenergie-Cluster supports the cluster partner companies in their internationalisation activities. OEC-Link: REINA

In September, the OEC organised the international training seminar "Biomass heating – market development and technologies". The three-day seminar included several site-visits, e.g. manufacturers of biomass boilers, a biomass contracting, a district heating network, a wood chip production and several businesses dealing with biomass logistics. The participants gained a comprehensive overview of the biomass market in Upper Austria. OEC-Link: International Training Seminar Biomass Heating

The Oekoenergie-Cluster successfully organised the Conference "Eco-Clusters: Drivers for regional growth & internationalisation" in Brussels in the frame of the cooperation project EcoCluP. The conference informed more than 60 experts and decision makers from the regional and local level about economic opportunities offered by energy and environmental clusters. It also offered networking opportunities among cluster managers from all over Europe and beyond. OEC-Link: Conference "Eco-Clusters"

A regional programme in Upper Austria supports the installation of photovoltaic systems in schools by subsidising up to 75 % (max. 3 kW) of the costs. One year after the programme launch, more than 285 schools have registered. The programme includes PV training toolkits with different materials for experiments in schools, events and a comprehensive database on electricity production. In seminars more than 170 teachers have been trained so far in solar energy and energy efficiency in schools. Link: www.pv-schule.at (in German)

In one district of Upper Austria, a pilot programme for low-income households is being implemented. The aim is to reduce the electricity costs of low-income households in a long-term perspective through energy advice and the free exchange of electrical appliances. The O.Oe. Energiesparverband manages this programme. So far, 170 families have received energy advice and more than 100 household appliances have been exchanged to newer, high-efficiency ones. OEC-Link: www.weg-aus-der-energiearmut.at (in German)

For the first time, the OEC organised "OEC next", an event for young employees of cluster companies. 25 of them met in the Welios science center for networking and discussion. After a presentation of OEC activities by the cluster team, Dr. Lukas Kranzl from the Technical University of Vienna presented his view of the future of energy. Additionally, five young cluster representatives presented their companies, products, services and projects. In a cooperation platform a lively discussion about cooperation opportunities took place. OEC-Link: OEC next

The O.Oe. Energiesparverband cooperates with 18 partners from 15 European countries to promote, implement and mainstream the procurement of energy efficient products (office equipment, household appliances, lighting, green power, building components, vehicles) in private and public institutions. The aim is to trigger green procurement for smart purchasing. The partners provide information through specific guidelines and calculation tools, but also assistance with energy labels, helpdesks, consultations and trainings and save at least 100 new European examples in a good-practice database. OEC-Link: www.buy-smart.info