Poreč Sunny Office, established in 2023, is Croatia’s first one-stop-shop supporting the development of energy communities. Through citizen education, co-creation, and PV-based models, it promotes shared local energy and fosters stronger, more resilient communities.
Energy Communities
Mitigation
Adaptation
The City of Poreč-Parenzo, a small Croatian town of 16,607 known for its history and sea, decided to establish a One Stop Shop - the Poreč Sunny Office - to deliver citizen education, workshops and advisory services regarding citizen energy. The declared objective is to promote energy communities, and prepare innovative PV-based financial as well as shared energy models.
A One Stop Shop open to all its citizens
After the energy crisis, and considering the increasingly negative effects of climate change, the Municipality of Poreč-Parenzo decided that it needed to increase the amount of renewable energy in the city.
The Municipality of Poreč has been actively involved in renewable energy projects for many years. It now has eight solar power stations on public buildings that have generated over a million kWh since their installation; as well as electric minibus, municipal guards with electric vehicles, charging stations and numerous other projects.
However, the Municipality alone cannot do the required energy transition: its citizens must be a part of it. For this reason, it decided to open the Poreč Sunny Office in February 2023, promoting education activities and encouraging the development of renewable energy projects.
As the Mayor explains, the idea came when - talking with residents on the topic - many pointed out that they did not know where to start from to install their own PV system. Thus, the Municipality decided to open the completely free-of-charge office, providing advice and technical support. Available to all citizens, the Office now answers questions such as: What is a solar power plant and how does it work? What documents and steps are required to install a PV system, and where should one start? What requirements must be met to install A PV system? How do you determine the required power output of the power plant? Which national bodies and institutions publish calls for proposals for the co-financing of PV systems?
Challenges
At the beginning, the project faced several challenges. Indeed, the low initial citizen awareness and the limited municipal role made hard to break the ice. However, through constant engagement and education activities, as well as local support, the project started producing results.
While the grid connection restraints and the unclear national legislation on energy communities, the OSS showed how pilot projects are crucial to overcome regulatory uncertainty through real-life testing and build trust and momentum.
Key challenges included unclear national legislation on energy communities, limited municipal roles, grid connection constraints, and low initial citizen awareness. We learned that strong local support, continuous education, and pilot projects are crucial to overcome regulatory uncertainty and build trust and momentum.
The way forward
Building on this experience, the Municipality of Poreč-Parenzo entered in the international project SPARKLE – Sustainable Planning and Resilience Knowledge Learning Environment. With its partners, the Municipality will develop innovative tools for training and training of city and municipal representatives to develop and implement their plans for the transition to clean energy.
Poreč, as leading educational centre, will make a special contribution to the empowerment of citizens and encouraging the development of energy communities, which are crucial for the launch of local renewable energy projects.
Using the words of the current Mayor Loris Peršurić, "Porec is a city of tourism, sports and culture, but also a city that is committed to working on sustainable development in the field of climate and energy"
Poreč, Croatia
One Stop Shop in Focus
Poreč Sunny Office
Stage of implementation: Active since 2023
Type of support from the Municipality
- Support: administrative support
- Direct involvement: financing and managing the OSS
Covenant Figures
- Signatory to the Covenant of Mayors since: 2012
- Emission reduction ambitions:
% GHG emissions reductions by 2030: - 40%
Related links
Financing the project
The Sunny Office is financed through the Balkan Solar Roofs project, financed by an EUKI grant:
- EUKI grant: 442.294,00€
- Municipality: 90.574,60 €