After a great success in applying project proposals to the first call for proposals of the Interreg Danube Region Programme 2021 – 2027, Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd. (further in text: Agency) has started the implementation of two projects Danube GeoHeCo and ESINERGY in cooperation with the partner consortia from different European countries. In the project Fostering the implementation of shallow Geothermal hybrid Heating and Cooling systems in the Danube Region (Danube GeoHeCo) the Agency is included as a lead partner, which means that it has a key role in the design and coordination of the entire project and directs the partnership towards achieving the defined project goals. The main goal of the Danube GeoHeCo project, which is currently also the Agency’s largest project, is to encourage the use of shallow geothermal energy potential in the Danube region by encouraging the integration of shallow geothermal heat pumps into existing conventional fossil fuel heating and cooling systems. As part of the project, the investment of installing a geothermal heat pump into the existing heating and cooling system of a building owned by Medjimurje County will be implemented.
Photo: Kick-off meeting in Čakovec, 26th – 27th of March 2024
Agency joined the project Empowerment of the stakeholders in the implementation of the Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources in terms of energy storages and energy networks stability (ESINERGY) as a project partner. The main goal of ESINERGY project is to solve one of the key problems in modern energy technology – managing the imbalance between the generated power and the load in the electrical network, which is not adequate to the upcoming needs such as the increase in consumption, energy demand, etc. As part of this project, the investment of installing a battery for energy storage with an upgrade of the existing system for smart measurement of energy consumption in the Administration Building in Čakovec Knowledge Center is planned, which will be financed from the budget of another Croatian project partner Medjimurje County (also the founder and owner of the Agency) in the amount of 50,000.00 EUR.
Photo: Kick-off meeting in Moravske Toplice, 14th – 15th of February 2024
These two projects represent a significant step forward towards the achievement of sustainability and development goals, highlighting the Agency’s commitment to encouraging the use of renewable energy sources such as geothermal energy and solar energy. Given that both projects are in the fourth month of its implementation, kick-off project partner meetings have already been held, one of which was organized by the Agency in Čakovec (Croatia) on 26th and 27th of March 2024, and the other was held on 14th and 15th of February 2024 in Moravske Toplice (Slovenia). During the two-day meetings, the partners had the opportunity to get to know each other and establish a joint cooperation in the implementation of these two projects and since both projects gather relevant experienced and expert organizations from different countries there is no doubt that all planned project objectives will be achieved.