Photo: KLIK
The Križevci Laboratory for Innovation in Climate – KLIK is an energy community of citizens created in 2020 within the Future Cities of South East Europe initiative. The cooperative helps locals develop climate and energy projects and encourages them to invest in renewable energy.
KLIK reached the final stage of this year’s EUSEW Awards competition, in the Local Energy Action category. At the same time, it is one of the two finalists from Southeastern Europe.
Križevci Laboratory for Innovation in Climate KLIK
In the first two years, the KLIK energy community helped households to install residential solar power panels of 277 kW in total. The investment is valued at EUR 500,000. Half was covered with grants from the City of Križevci while homeowners paid for the remainder.
The installed photovoltaics will produce an estimated 289 MWh of renewable electricity per year, resulting in a reduction of annual CO2 emissions by 54 tonnes. In addition to the deployment of solar energy, KLIK’s activity has also strengthened the local economy and resulted in the creation of 15 jobs.
“KLIK is a unique energy cooperative helping citizens in the energy transition,” its Project Manager Sanela Mikulčič Šantić said. “We are engaging with the community by collaborating with local organisations. In the last two years we organised 22 lectures, with close to 400 participants. Through this we are trying to impart the community with knowledge and connect them with other relevant stakeholders to make a more resilient community.”
“The energy climate office is a place where citizens can meet, talk, and go to for information. It is also a place to further inspire others and it most definitely has an active role in the whole energy transition,” adds Mario Rajn, Mayor of Križevci.
He says he sees citizens as a key driver of the energy transition, “We want to be energy independent by 2030 and we cannot establish nor achieve anything without citizens,” Rajn pointed out.
EUSEW Awards 2023
Winners of the European Sustainable Energy Awards (EUSEW Awards) for 2023 will be announced on June 20. A total of nine finalists in the categories of Innovation, Local Energy Action and Woman in Energy are on the shortlist of this year’s most successful projects. Voting is online and open until June 11.
The awards recognize outstanding individuals and projects for their innovation and efforts in the field of energy efficiency and renewables.
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