CZECH GREEN DEAL for municipalities

CZECH GREEN

DEAL for municipalities

EACH MINISTRY HAS A CRUCIAL ROLE FOR ITS SECTOR; IT HAS THE OBLIGATION TO CREATE UNIFORM METHODOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE GIVEN SECTOR AND TO SUPPORT IT WITH THE STABLE LONG-TERM STRATEGY. SO ANY DRASTIC AND/OR UNPLANNED OR NOT WELL-PREPARED CHANGES ARE REFLECTED IN THE „MOBILITY OF THE TARGET“, WHICH MAKES INVESTORS UNSUCCESSFUL IN “THE SUCCESS OF THE SHOOTING”. IN THIS CONTEXT, THE EU GREEN DEAL FRAMEWORK STRATEGY IS A KIND OF STABLE INDICATOR OF DIRECTION AND THE DOMESTIC STRATEGY IS A DEFINITION OF HOW TO DO IT AS BEST AS POSSIBLE.

We can be inspired by the successful policy of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and its educational laws (1919), when the public library service was deployed as a national standardized public service for higher education of entire groups of citizens excluded from the education system and with the unavailability of culture, including support for rural development. Similarly conceived public investments led to the fact that in 1935 Czechoslovakia became the tenth economy in the world. Now, a hundred years later, we have a similar opportunity, and the success will be created only by a well-thought-out program of long-term, stable planned development of municipalities, which we have called the Czech Green Deal.

Experience shows that for well-designed public services that are built sustainably (including the setting of operating costs), it is easier to secure the fi nancing of their creation. Their acquisition is based on terms of sustainable operation (so-called „life cycle costs“) and not only on the acquisition price. It is thus an essential part of the program to have uniform rules, a supported system of municipal cooperation including digital support tools. The goal of public administration (within innovations and smart investments) is to provide quality standard public services at an estimated cost in the long run, and thus build the safety of users, suppliers, and customers. Transparency, openness, and predictability are important prerequisites for innovation.

Quality criteria should be the fi rst steps a „smart“ ministry will take for its agenda before planning investments. This defi nes the steps and their sequence. Thanks to technological progress and digitization, the existing criteria for subsidy applications appear to be insuffi cient. So, for a successful Czech innovations program we need new ones.

: If the Czech Green Deal is to be successful in the fi eld of energy, cities and municipalities need clear rules of the game from the ministry

These include:

· legal and contractual support (type agreements on the quality of service provided (so-called SLAs) or on leases of property), · quality standards of technical design (e.g., for the quality of storage facilities, see PI Berlin report on unreliability and low quality of batteries from various manufacturers, also touches on quality standards of solar panels), i.e., minimum framework requirements that do not hinder innovation · data and telecommunication standards (support of data economy and digitization) · financial / subsidy programs (standard implementation projects of building LDA, not isolated solutions) with a consistent cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and thus focusing primarily on operational quality and sustainability and with an emphasis on the design and procurement of primarily services)

: Standardized contracts for suppliers (smart contracts)

Municipalities will be able to prepare their energy strategies and subsequent investments in standard quality only if they have the above-mentioned service from the ministry. Related to this is the preparation of transparent identifi cation and labelling of services (products) of suppliers protecting the customer from purchasing a low-quality product that would soon lose the required effi ciency or capacity. These relationships must support the identifi cation and cooperation of all benefi ciaries of the target public service, including cooperation between local governments and cooperation with other local investors. Standard contract with defi ned quality of service; SLA (service level agreement according to ISO 41011, ČSN / EN 15221-5), should be a part of professional training, and therefore also demands, and should be provided to municipalities, including counselling. This creates certainty, i.e., the supplier participates in the effi ciency of the operation, and therefore it is in his interest to deliver quality work, the customer gains the certainty of economic return and can use various fi nancial mechanisms, which will speed up the preparation of the investment. New procedures can be set up relatively quickly in a standard routine.

The second necessary condition is the digitization of the contractual process, which brings with it a verifi ed electronic identity, concluding the contract electronically and monitoring its

fulfi lment, i.e., the quantity and price of energy produced, and the number of emission allowances produced.

: Type contracts for municipalities and citizens

To facilitate legal action from potential approximately 6,200 municipalities towards their citizens, the Ministry would provide standard forms of contracts for the lease of a roof and the operation of a solar system within the LDA, which would be variable only at the level of parameters. Municipalities will thus receive a „contractual full-service“ and will devote the time saved to the material preparation of LDA projects. It can also include full support for Facility Management (SW and expert) operations.

: Public portal

Technical parameters should prevent ineffi cient purchases (for example, cheap, low-yield solar panels or cheap storage with signifi cant capacity degradation over time). It also sets the quality of the relationship with the „producer-citizen (organization)“, because in addition to a simple model of renting space to the municipality, there may be situations where the citizen (organization) is an investor or shareholder in „Community Power Plant“, which is an integral part of LDA. This is only realistic with the creation of digital billing (e.g., a web portal for monitoring own energy production and consumption, supplemented by the number of produced emission allowances / amount of contribution to the Green Deal), which will enable better reporting of the state to the EU (measurable value for EU money). Municipalities can purchase such a portal from a wide range of suppliers, but the ministry must insist on a standard digital record of produced RES and emission allowances. Such a step is thus also related to the defi nition of telecommunication parameters. This cooperation requires the correct setting of drawing benefi ts by the partners. In some cases, it will be appropriate to exchange the partner‘s assets for city services (sports grounds, educational programs, etc.).

: Data

Within remote metering (netmetering), there must be a uniform data format, which the system or portal supplier must comply with, including the appropriate quality of communication and data, as well as the level of ethics and personal data protection. Even for this case, the ministry, or NAKIT, would provide contractual legal and technical standards so that the municipality can ensure the necessary standard data quality and GDPR. These parameters must be part of the contractual arrangements between customers and suppliers, as well as municipalities and citizens, and it will be necessary to keep these rules up to date.

: Building LDA

The support system will focus on building larger units (LDA) with the involvement of many small producers. This view is key to success, as it will allow joint investments to be made within a single investment process, for example, high-speed internet will lead along with new energy grid. The necessary digital tools for spatial planning and investment planning thus focus not only on the “digital technical map”, but also on other investment parameters (CBA), such as energy, water, transport, telecommunications, social and business and other perspectives. Existing analytical tools available on the market would handle such functionalities.

The support of the RES energy of industrial companies is certainly a step in the right direction, however, their incorporation into the LDA of the municipality is clearly a better solution regarding the benefi ts. The subsidy policy would thus consider the stability of the energy balance within the wider LDA, even with a view to the emergence of energy-plus urban neighbourhoods, while supporting local production / consumption, job creation, digitization and digital literacy and other benefi ts. The involvement of industrial buildings in the municipal LDA is thus perceived as key and is one of the KPI of the program and of every CBA.

The system will work with collaboration support. At the level of municipality, it will use local innovation cells (for example, a network of community-coworking centres according to the CZECH.UP Humpolec Demonstrator). At the same time, it will support the cooperation of local governments, both vertical (municipalities 1, 2, 3 type, regions) and horizontal (cooperation of local governments) - The digital concept then allows not adjacent municipalities to cooperate at a certain level of services - for example on the system management in SW form).

: Smart municipality

As part of the support provided by the ministry, Czech cities and municipalities could prepare hundreds of investment projects in energy, with the necessary quality and quantity for eff ective use of European subsidies, but also with maintaining the stability of the energy network and local energy security. However, the cooperation system would allow fewer projects of cooperating municipalities to be created (regional dimension). To successfully set up such a program, it is necessary to follow the following procedure:

Vision

the municipality (applied to the cooperating municipalities and to the demonstrators) formulates the goals and vision of its investments in energy (max. 3-page document), which sets the basic parameters for drawing subsidies. The vision is based on measurable indicators (KPI) mentioned in the previous article and representatives of the city or municipality choose a supported business model (operation by

the existing city company and citizens as tenants, or it will be community power plants, etc.), the amount of purchase / lease / co-funding. The vision should be drawn up not only by politicians, but also by representatives of local or aff ected organizations, i.e., potential investors, manufacturers, or operators through the so-called Municipal Innovation Consortium, as the Vision also has an impact on the use of existing or building its own infrastructure (even grid). In addition to the local ecosystem of partners, it is appropriate to establish a Municipal Innovation Fund, into which part of the profi ts from the LDA operation, e.g., 30%, could automatically go to support the further development of investments, including in other services. This does not only apply to local governments, but to all benefi ciaries cooperating in MiK and MiF. This is what the Vision should set out.

Infrastructure

the municipality already includes the necessary energy infrastructure elements in all its investment plans and coordinates investments with other local investors. On the border of private areas, e.g., industrial areas, there may be places of standard energy consumption, e.g., standard electric chargers, hydrogen storage / pumping stations, or new areas with RES (e.g., parking areas). The investments also include rain retention tanks, irrigation and greenery, telecommunication needs, etc., and the way to decentralization of public lighting (local branches) is also open.

Technology

Remote readings are only one of the basic technological stones of the Digital City Model and without web portals, BI analytics, or tools to support operational documentation, it is diffi cult to plan and implement joint investments coordinated by the Municipality Innovation Consortium. Municipalities can deploy various technologies for individual LDAs in their projects only if the technological standard of equipment, communication and data is known, which primarily leads to the emergence of digital twins, i.e., digital records of equipment and assets associated with digital dynamic system data, which will enable the LDA to manage from a technical and business point of view. The infrastructure is thus digitally mapped to the property and cadastral records of the municipality and connected to the solar cadastre - a tool ideally provided by the state.

Alternative methods of production, distribution and consumption

LDA supports the energy use of all built-up areas where appropriate, regardless of property relations and the Czech Green Deal program is not primarily focused / limited to an individual group (i.e. production plants, city property, new development or community power plants), or on specifi c RES technology. The LDA is thus technologically unbeatable, which will support the further development of innovations. Local contracts will allow producers to support a

specifi c type of service (e.g., I produce electricity for public lighting in my street, or shared electric bicycles), as well as consumers to buy energy from a specifi c producer. Remotely located cowshed sites in the village can thus diversify investments in energy production (biogas, solar or wind energy, hydrogen production), which will support the sustainability of the energy balance in the village and local business and the emergence of new services and employment in the village. It will also be possible to evaluate the use of temporarily usable resources (for example built-up areas).

Public acceptance

the above steps show that it is appropriate to be prepared and have a plan for communication with citizens. In addition to the Vision proposal and implementation strategy (implementation projects), it is appropriate to prepare and staff a communication campaign with digital tools, such as a web information service, where the citizen can fi nd out „how much his/her roof could earn“ or what services can be provided in exchange, up to fi ll in the form for expressing interest in participating in the program. This enables phasing the implementation and investment-intensive process of LDA for the city / municipality, including real impacts on everyday life, such as the reconstruction of sidewalks. The municipality can easily (digital model) document the participatory approach and the number of involved citizens and interested organizations (other KPIs), including the potential for energy use of areas (m2), which will allow the ministry to create a comprehensive benchmark for the grant title.

CBA and evaluation

The KPIs set in the Vision also serve to monitor the eff ectiveness of the subsidy funds spent, which will enable the Ministry to adequately plan the allocation of subsidy resources for the next period and report increasing RES and emission allowances. It will also make it possible to diversify individual works / fi elds, i.e., how high the cost of IT (IoT) systems in relation to the total cost is, what business models were the most successful or acceptable among municipalities, what are the main obstacles to further LDA development or how to improve cybersecurity and protection against possible data leaks. We consider the cooperation of benefi ciaries on the place to be essential, which will make it possible to reduce the negative impact of complex fi nancial transfers and subsidies and enable to invest funds wisely on the place together.

Regional dimension

The fi rst stage of the program should support the involvement of as many municipalities as possible, the preparation of Demonstrators and groups of cooperating local governments in them. In the next stages, the emphasis should be on cooperation, support for local innovation centres in the Humpolec Community Coworking Centre network and create conditions for the regional dimension of services. Thus, another important partner and benefi ciary can be involved - the region. For example, for the deployment of hydrogen trains powered by Czech hydrogen produced from RES in Czech municipalities, the provision of such a service on the train track is required, i.e., ideally by all municipalities on the track line. Such a program would enable the participating municipalities to draw benefi ts, such as a discount on the fare for their citizens or participation in other stages of the program, such as the construction of hydrogen fi lling stations for vehicles. The demands on the management of such a program are signifi cantly higher and could be coordinated by the regions.

#David Bárta, Radek Gutwirth

How to proceed (in brief)

STEP 1 VISION AND GOALS, urban innovation consortium and How to proceed (in brief) erty registration + solar cadastre

STEP 3 PARTICIPATION: Communication with citizens, mapping interest

STEP 4 PREPARATION: System architecture of a specifi c LDA and project preparation – the fi rst investment

STEP 5 IMPLEMENTATION: Deployment of the necessary energy system and other networks

STEP 6 DIGITIZATION: Deployment of IoT remote readings and microgrids, big data analysis, data set opening, hackaton, fl exible pricing and business models

STEP 7 STANDARDIZATION: type project (so-called demonstrator) and its description in the Catalogue of Services, CBA and KPI evaluation, plan for follow-up LDA and regional projects, feedback for the ministry and planning of allocations of other subsidies, natural sharing of innovations in the network of municipalities

STEP 8 MARKETING: information campaign with successful projects, municipalities and citizens, networks of community coworking centres, including records of produced green energy and emission permits and stories of their local monetization

CZECH GREEN DEAL - support package of the Ministry for Municipalities

Package Items Item Description

Strategies and subsidies

Contractual agenda

Technical standards

Information services CBA and KPI, i.e., how applications and implemented projects, allocations and business models, a standard of the Vision, benchmark parameters, etc. will be evaluated.

Single Contract on SLAs (suppliers), property leases and other models (citizen), data protection and GDPR

Unifi ed data model, minimum requirements for solar panels and storage

Public portals with a defi ned minimum set of data and type projects, records of energy produced and emission allowances

Type projects

Certifi cation Database of good practice, i.e., type projects (demonstrators) including non-energy elements (e.g., water retention tanks)

Declaration of compliance with the basic requirements of the subsidy program for the quality of equipment / supplies

Services to municipalities Solar cadastre available in the form of a web portal and providing a data fi le (e.g. .kml) to municipalities for an import into their property records

Communication campaign LDA as a tool for the development of municipalities (for municipalities)