Kick-off event of the EEN-OL

The companies that gathered on June 20, 2016, for the kickoff event of the “Upper Lusatia Energy Efficiency Network” (EEN-OL) are certainly not lacking in initiative. On the contrary, it is the desire to exchange experiences on the topic of operational energy efficiency that brings them together. What are other companies doing in this area? What experiences have been gained with various technical solutions? What has been good, and what hasn’t? How can mistakes be avoided when implementing energy efficiency measures? How can employees be engaged in the implementation process? These are some of the questions that the EEN-OL exchange is designed to address. In addition to this and the sharing of specialized energy knowledge through expert presentations, the focus is on learning together from experience and getting to know one another better. To this end, upcoming meetings will take place alternately at the participating companies.

In 2014, the federal government and business associations and organizations reached an agreement on the introduction of energy efficiency networks, which was also incorporated into the federal government’s “National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency” (NAPE). The agreement calls for the launch and implementation of approximately 500 energy efficiency networks in Germany by the end of 2020. The EEN-OL is the fourth network in Saxony, following those in Dresden, Chemnitz, and Leipzig. All of them were established by the network sponsors: the Saxon Energy Agency GmbH (SAENA), as well as the Chambers of Industry and Commerce and the Chambers of Crafts in Saxony. Based on a public bidding process, the facilitation and technical coordination of the EEN-OL were entrusted to a team from the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.

The kick-off meeting on June 20, 2016, served to work with the companies to develop the topics for the network meetings. This ensures that the planned meetings are not conducted according to a pre-determined plan, but are tailored to the needs of the companies. According to the expectations survey conducted among the companies and taking into account their current level of maturity in energy management, the following topics are planned for the upcoming meetings:

• Energy data collection and operational energy metrics
• Success factors and barriers to achieving energy goals
• Software-supported energy data analysis.

To contribute to improving energy efficiency and climate protection, the EEN-OL will commit to an energy savings target to be achieved by the end of the two-year network initiative. This target will be derived from each company’s individual energy-saving targets, potential, and opportunities. The implementation of the network’s goal will be evaluated by an independent scientific institute commissioned by the federal government. The network is funded by SAENA GmbH; participating companies contribute 800 euros per year (net).

Members of the EEN-OL are:

• Damino GmbH
• FIEDLER Mechanical Engineering and Technikvertrieb GmbH
• Fit GmbH
• Heytex Neugersdorf GmbH
• SSL Mechanical Engineering GmbH
• Stadtwerke Görlitz AG
• Zittau Municipal Utilities GmbH
• Techno-Coat Surface Technology GmbH
• Trixi Park GmbH

Contact person for the network operators:

• Georg Hamann, Saxon Energy Agency – SAENA GmbH
• Ulrich Mittag, Dresden Chamber of Industry and Commerce