ECO RESET Bitola
Association for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency
Project
“Bitola Region on the road to transition Energy Communities – added value to the local community”
Community Solar Power — What’s Happening? What’s New?
Supported by
ECO RESET Bitola
ECO RESET Bitola
Association for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency
The energy transition is one of today’s biggest challenges and it cannot be solved by passive actors and countries closed in bureaucracy. Participation of individuals in renewable energy sources can create progress and thus make individuals active and involved in the processes. Energy cooperatives/communities can include ordinary citizens, businesses, public administration and SMEs. They are the result of a model for citizens’ participation in the energy system and their main function is to generate renewable energy through collective production of plants for common self-consumption. These communities can undertake multiple activities involving the production, consumption, storage and sharing of energy.
The Bitola Energy Community is the model that includes the public institution “Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies – FIKT”, a residential building located in close proximity to the public institution as SOTU Gjorgi Naumov Bitola. This model envisages the installation of three separate photovoltaic installations of 100 KWp each, placed on the roof of all three buildings. The total investment value for the three photovoltaic installations with a total power of 300 KWp is estimated at 272,540.00 euros. The model was developed in such a way that the building as the largest consumer of electricity would participate with the largest amount in the investment for all three photovoltaic installations because it would use the most energy from the entire system. Namely, the Building is expected to participate with 200,495 euros, SOTU Gjorgi Naumov with 48,030 euros and FIKT with 24,015 euros. The financial analysis of the investment was made by providing a 30% grant while the rest is own participation through loans for 7 years. The financial effects show that after ten years the Building would have saved a total of 226,479 euros, SOTU Gjorgi Naumov would have saved a total of 133,006 euros after ten years, while FIKT would have saved a total of 79,603 euros after ten years. By establishing this energy community, we will have an annual production of approximately 369,782 MWh of electricity. Of this energy, 37,782 MWh will be consumed in the FIKT building, then 65,634 MWh will be consumed in SOTU Gjorgi Naumov Bitola and 255,221 MWh will be consumed in the building at 10 Grigor Prlichev Street. The surplus of 11,144 MWh will be donated to socially disadvantaged families.