The Zlín Region is located in the east of the
Czech Republic, its eastern edge forming borders with Slovakia. With its area
of 3,964 km2, Zlín Region is the fourth smallest region of the Czech Republic.
The character of the region's territory is very diverse. There are 307 local
authorities, with a population of 580,119 inhabitants (2021). Almost 200
enterprises with 100 or more employees operate in the industrial sector in the
Zlín Region, which is the 5th rank compared to other 13 regions of the Czech
Republic.
The Zlín Region and especially its regional
energy agency is an important player in the ongoing energy transformation,
while the creation of functional energy sharing models is one of its primary
interests. The Energy Agency of the Zlín region (EAZK) was founded in 2006 as a
non-profit organization owned by the city of Zlín. It functions as an advisory
center for the region with the intention of helping the development of the
region's territory by supporting the increase of energy efficiency,
effectiveness and self-sufficiency of cities and municipalities. Energy
transition strategy in the region is mainly defined by EAZK and later adopted
by the region. Local authorities implement the energy transition through
planning particular projects and individual implementation, only a few of them
have a real Sustainable Energy Action Plan, or SECAP.
The 3 pilot sites are:
Vlčnov
microregion
Vlčnov
is a village in Uherské Hradiště District in the Zlín Region. It has about
3,000 inhabitants. PV plants are located on public buildings owned by the
municipality of Vl?nov. The public swimming pool has its own 20 kW power plant,
the rest of the consumption currently must be taken from the grid. The
objective of the future energy community is to balance the consumption and production
of power plants. Thus, the swimming pool will balance the rest of its
consumption from the production of other power plants owned by the village.
Similarly, other cultural buildings such as the football stadium or cultural
center will consume this electricity.
Slavičín
municipality
Slavičín
is a town in Zlín District in the Zlín Region. It has about 6,200 inhabitants. In
Slavičín, there is already an elaborate system of community energy measures,
which enable the municipality to supply heat to about 2/5 of households from
its own resources. This is made possible by a modern biomass heating plant and
solar-powered heat pumps. Efficient use of solar energy is guaranteed with the
help of battery storage, and the municipality's long-term plans also include
the installation of a bladeless wind power plant. For its approach, the
municipality achieved first place in the national competition "Inspirational
Region of the Czech Republic”.
City
of Zlín
Zlín
has about 74,000 inhabitants and it is capital city of the Zlín Region. The
regional capital of Zlín and 8 city entities signed a partnership agreement to
establish an association, the purpose of which will be to provide favorable
electricity prices to its members. The goal will be to bring together other
active entities and gradually increase the effect of the community. Through the
participation to ECOEMPOWER, these actors will be gradually guided to the
creation of an energy community. This corresponds to the development strategy
of the City of Zlín and Teplo Zlín a.s. (the thermal energy distributor of
Zlin) with the medium-term goal of installing new PV plants, potentially with a
total output of 2.9 MWp.
