Award for energy software E.GON

© Martin Lusser

Energy communities are seen throughout Austria as an important building block on the way to a renewable energy future. Producers and consumers of renewable electricity come together to use it regionally. Energiezukunft Niederösterreich, a joint subsidiary of EVN and Energie und Umweltagentur des Landes Niederösterreich (eNu), has developed the “Energiegemeinschaften Online Software” – E.GON for short – to make the organization and administration of these communities as easy as possible for the operators. This innovation has now also convinced the jury of the special VERENA prize as part of the State Prize for Innovation: E.GON was able to achieve a place among the top 3.

E.GON supports energy communities from the collection of expressions of interest from potential participants to registration with the grid operator and billing. Piles of printed documents, cumbersome handwritten signatures and the keeping of many different endless lists are now a thing of the past.

“We are delighted about this nomination,” says EZN Managing Director Roland Matous enthusiastically. “E.GON is now used by almost 200 energy communities for simplified processing. This means that over 3,000 active participants and a further 8,000 interested parties can now be supported.”

Without this innovative software solution, the goal of establishing an energy community in every Lower Austrian municipality by 2030 would be difficult to achieve. For EZN Managing Director Andreas Rautner, the nomination is further proof of the excellent work of his colleagues, who contributed to the development with passion and conviction. “However, E.GON has now gained recognition beyond Austria’s borders. Energy communities from neighboring countries are already interested in our solution,” explains Rautner proudly.

The Energy Communities Online Software is part of the NETSE project, which is supported by the Green Energy Lab research initiative and the FH Vienna Neustadt is carried out. This cooperation project is working on solutions for the optimized planning and efficient operation of renewable energy communities.

EZN

Energie Zukunft Niederösterreich GmbH is a joint subsidiary of EVN and the Energy and Environment Agency of the Province of Lower Austria (eNu). As a joint service company, EZN supports the goal of the state of Lower Austria to become the model region for decentralized renewable energy generation. With energy industry expertise from a single source, municipalities, companies and private individuals receive comprehensive advice from the initial idea through to the establishment and management of the energy community.

About the Green Energy Lab

Green Energy Lab is a research initiative for sustainable energy solutions and part of the Austrian innovation offensive “Vorzeigeregion Energie” of the Climate and Energy Fund. More than 300 participating partners from research, industry and the public sector are working together with the four provincial energy suppliers Energie Burgenland, Energie Steiermark, EVN and Wien Energie to develop customer and demand-oriented, scalable solutions – from prototype to market maturity. With a test region of over five million end consumers, Green Energy Lab is Austria’s largest “innovation lab” for sustainable energy solutions.