The first meeting of POWERPOOR Liaison Group in Estonia
05.03.2021
The first meeting of POWERPOOR Stakeholder Liaison Group in Estonia was held in 5.03.21. The group was established by EKYL in the framework of POWERPOOR initiative and brings together different stakeholders who are working for alleviation of energy poverty in Estonia. The members of the Liaison Group include the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Fund KredEx, Tartu Regional Energy Agency, municipalities of Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu and Kuressaare and others.
EKYL opened the debate on the POWERPOOR project, goals & activities at the meeting. The participants discussed how to support energy poor citizens and how to use the power of the apartment associations in the country for mitigating energy poverty in Estonia.
Special attention in the discussions was given to the definition of energy poverty in Estonia. Current Estonian national development documents do not deal with energy poverty as an separate issue. Household subsistence is monitored fully at national as well as local government level. The ‘Welfare Development Plan 2016-2023 focuses on poverty reduction and aims at the reduction of the absolute poverty rate to 5.8% and reduction of the relative poverty rate to 15% by 2023. In Estonia, the person in energy poverty is linked with the subsistence allowance, which means that recipients of the subsistence allowance also includes people experiencing energy poverty. A person living alone or a family who in the last six months has received once the subsistence allowance for housing costs is deemed to be experiencing energy poverty.
At the same time, energy demand for buildings forms an important part of the energy balance and has high potential for energy savings. In Estonia, the energy consumption of the households forms 42.7% of the total energy balance. The main types of energy consumed are electrical energy, gas and heating, of which the last accounts for the greatest share of consumption. State-applied policies to improve energy efficiency are increasingly focused on energy-efficient buildings and renovating buildings to make them more energy-efficient, thereby reducing energy dependency and GHG emissions from the building stock. Renewable energy solutions must be applied to make the buildings more energy-efficient and, where possible, based on the cost-efficiency aspect.
It was emphasized at the meeting that the situation of natural persons and households who are not able to participate in the energy saving measures without additional support must be improved. POWERPOOR initiative will offer various possibilities for that in Estonia and in Europe. The Liaison Group will provide its support and know-how throughout and beyond the project period.
Information: coordinator of the Liaison Group in Estonia
Anu Sarnet, Anu.Sarnet@ekyl.ee
POWERPOOR is an European project funded by Horizon 2020 and run by 14 partners who work on Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Spain, Portugal. The main aim of POWERPOOR is to support programmes/ schemes for energy poor citizens and encourage the use of alternative financing schemes (e.g. establishing energy communities / cooperatives, crowd funding). POWERPOOR will facilitate experience and knowledge sharing, as well as the implementation of small-scale energy efficiency interventions and the installation of renewable energy sources, increasing the active participation of citizens.
The National Stakeholder Liaison Groups will facilitate the engagement of and will provide support to citizens suffering from energy poverty, reinforcing the network of Energy Supporters and Energy Communities Mentors working on the field as well as facilitate the sustainability of the POWERPOOR toolkit and the action.
POWERPOOR project has received funding from the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 890437.