The Energy Agency of Savinjska, Šaleška and Koroška region was established in 2006 within the framework of the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) programme, with its main founders the Municipality of Velenje (MOV), Municipality of Celje (MOC), Municipality of Slovenj Gradec (MOSG) and the Public Utility Company Velenje (KPV), for which it provides a wide range of services in the field of energy management and development of local communities. The organization is most active in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable transport and GHG emission mitigation. It`s main tasks include energy modelling and analysis (detailed energy audits, building physics, energy certificates, thermographic analysis of building thermal envelope), energy monitoring and management (application of an Energy Management Information System - EMIS in monitoring energy consumption and environmental impacts of public buildings), local strategy and policy development (development of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans - SECAP, local energy concepts, active engagement in the co-development of national energy policy drawn from practical implementation experience on the local levels), investment facilitation and development (development of investment documentation, research of possible co-financing sources, examination of national and international tenders) in addition to carrying out promotional, educational, training and awareness raising activities amongst key stakeholder groups and beneficiaries. One of the core activities of the organization is the implementation of energy renovation projects in buildings, for which a good understanding of legislative, administrative, technical and other fields is essential.
The agency is highly experienced in the area of energy renovation of public buildings and has been involved in almost all stages of the process including data acquisition, baseline development and benchmarking, design of investment measures (investment and financing, CBA analysis, GHG emission reduction, etc.) and technical support in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases. It has extensive knowledge about different investment mechanisms such as Energy Service Contracting (Energy performance contracting, Energy supply contracting) and has comprehensive insight on which aspects must be considered in order to successfully implement and sustain energy saving projects.
The organization has extensively worked on simplifying and improving monitoring of parameters that take into account the wider benefits of energy renovation from a building user perspective, which include measurements of microclimate parameters (temperature, CO2, air velocity), illuminance and quality of indoor air (presence of toxic gases such as various types of volatile organic compounds and Radon), which are able to better evaluate the feasibility of energy renovation by considering factors such as health and productivity of building users. The agency has excellent connections to municipalities in the Savinjsko-Šaleška region, Slovenia and beyond, within neighbouring countries. It actively participated in several international initiatives in the past and is presently a member of the European Federation of Agencies and Regions for Energy and the Environment.
One of the key mandates of the organization is also to achieve optimal energy use by actively engaging the energy users, where it applies its extensive knowledge in the organization of education and training events, structured around topical issues regarding energy supply and use. In addition, KSSENA also has relevant experience in cooperating with energy producers, suppliers, DH system operators, national decision makers and other relevant stakeholders. KSSENA has also managed to secure impressive exposure to regional and transnational projects, financed by either purposely structured funds and programmes or a form of public private partnership. The Agency has cooperated with many European partners since its inception in 2006 and has established a valuable network of experts within and beyond the European member states. The Agencies vision is to continue the cooperation on ambitious work programs, supporting various regional and interregional initiatives as well as programmes on the European level. Moreover, the Agency was the lead partner on a successful project funded under the South East Europe programme, thus it has sufficient experience in taking over the coordination and implementation of several project activities.