Solutions for energy contractors and energy communities

At the workshop on the topic of energy societies, Andreas Kittenhuber spoke about Kommunalkredit's activities in the fields of energy and environment. He presented Kommunalkredit presentations in the field of renewable energies and showed how these solutions can be beneficial and financially sustainable for communities.

From hydrogen to energy contracting

Kettenhuber also mentioned Kommunalkredit's joint projects, including a partnership with OMV to build an electrolysis plant for hydrogen production and a collaboration with Stadtwerke Wels AG in energy contracting on commercial land. Kommunalkredit offers to plan, build, operate and maintain photovoltaic systems, so that communities do not incur investment costs and receive electricity income.

Research regional energy systems

Andreas Schneemann, Managing Director of Schneemann Energy Group, presents its competence center in Southern Burgenland. He spoke about their efforts in the research and development of regional renewable energy systems, which aims to harness the region's energy to reduce the need for high-level grids. He and his collaborators realized that creating and managing energy communities can be overwhelming for individuals and champions. Therefore, they developed a digital platform to support the creation and management of energy communities.

A digital platform for energy communities

The platform provides fully automated contract and billing processing and other services to energy communities. Registration is easy, followed by assignment to energy communities and contract provision automatically. The platform also enables fully automated monthly billing for approximately 4,000 measurement points.

“Power cells” as decentralized energy systems

Schneemann stressed the importance of energy communities as infrastructure projects and identified requirements for the development of “energy cells” as decentralized and renewable energy systems. This includes defining cell sizes, coupling the electricity, heat and mobility intensive sector, flexibility options through storage and load shifting, as well as the need for standardized interfaces to energy markets.

He also highlighted investments in renewable energy sources, consumer flexibility, cross-sector coupling, digital platforms, virtual power plants, and the role of energy communities in this context, and exchanged experiences of implementing energy communities in various regions and sectors.

Leasing is becoming increasingly popular as a financing tool

Markus Taschenk then spoke about the possibilities of leasing financing under sustainability criteria, especially in relation to Raiffeisen Leasing. He highlighted the financial challenges faced by companies and the increasing use of leasing as a financing tool. He talked about various leasing offerings, including vehicle leasing, fleet management and property leasing, with a focus on the public sector.

Taschenk highlighted the importance of sustainability, both in terms of environmental and governance aspects, as well as the importance of these issues to customers, investors and society as a whole. He gave concrete presentations of green leasing in the field of renewable energies and electric mobility and explained municipal models for sustainability projects in which Raiffeisen Leasing acts as a partner in the comprehensive solution.