Pirkanmaa (Finland) prepares for hosting duties
The hybrid meeting was arranged on the 9th of April 2024 and hosted at the Pellava Conference Centre, managed by the Council of Tampere Region.
Present were representatives from
- Leppäkoski,
- Lempäälän Energia,
- Elenia,
- Tampereen Energia Sähköverkko,
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland,
- Tampere University,
- Tampere University of Applied Sciences,
- the Finnish Real Estate Federation,
- the Finnish Real Estate Management Federation, and
- the Council of Tampere Region.
The group was presented with the learnings from the project meeting and interesting site visits in Granada, Spain. They were especially interested in hearing and discussing what the drivers for establishing energy communities are in Spain, how differently the topic is approached there in practice, and what Finland could learn from their example – especially the “can do” attitude demonstrated by the local actors in Granada area.
The group also discussed the upcoming project meeting hosted in Tampere Region at the end of May. A schedule was drafted for a site visit in LEMENE energy system in Lempäälä and presentations by local stakeholders. The group agreed to present a few local RECs, a brief introduction into research conducted by the stakeholder organisations, and an overview of the Finnish regulatory framework.
There was a general discussion on the status of energy communities in the Finnish legislation, what regulatory changes are possibly on the way, whether RECs are included in the planning of new districts in the region, and how the Spanish model of RECs could be implemented, in theory, within the Finnish electricity distribution system.
The next meeting of the Pirkanmaa stakeholder group will take place in October 2024, to discuss topics brought up in the partner meeting.