Four districts on the west coast, one common goal: Under the sponsorship of the Entwicklungsgesellschaft Westholstein (egw), a cross-district "West Coast Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection Network" is to start its work in the second half of 2022. The foundation is currently in preparation. Interested companies from the chemical industry as well as energy, logistics and waste management sectors are still being sought. The offer is aimed at medium-sized and large companies with considerable energy- and CO2-savings potential in the districts of Dithmarschen, Pinneberg, Nordfriesland and Steinburg.
Egw's project partners are Wirtschaftsförderungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft Pinneberg (WEP) and Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Nordfriesland (WFG NF). Associated partners from science and research institutions are also expected to participate in the network in order to promote knowledge transfer in the West Coast region. The aim is to achieve a significant reduction in the consumption of electricity and/or fossil fuels in the participating companies. The "self-learning network" will set a common savings target to be achieved in a defined period of time through network-internal exchange of experience and knowledge.
In the set-up and start-up phase, the model project will be supported until the end of 2023 with funds from the regional budget and the above mentioned economic development agencies. The companies themselves will not incur any costs for participating in the network during this period. For the technical exchange, however, it is necessary for the companies interested in the network to be able to send responsible employees to the network who have the corresponding technical competence in questions of energy efficiency and in-house technical processes in order to be able to participate in the exchange in the targeted manner. It is also desirable for participating companies to already be audited in accordance with "EN ISO 50001".
The first step in establishing the network is to take stock of the situation. The aim is to identify opportunities in the companies to use energy more efficiently and reduce CO2 emissions. Individual consultations or surveys such as an energy audit are not planned. Once the respective savings targets have been defined, the companies' energy, environmental and sustainability experts will then meet at regular intervals - at least six times until the end of 2023 - to exchange experiences.
General aim is to further and strengthen the West Coast energy competence region and, in view of the current challenges, to help companies in the region to save energy and reduce C02 emissions, which ultimately has a positive impact on competitiveness and climate balance.
Interested companies can express their interest in participating till August 23, 2022 by sending an email to the following address info@egw-westholstein.de (please indicate "Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection Network West Coast" as the subject line).
The project is financed with funds from the West Coast Regional Budget 2021-2023 and by the project partners. The regional budget is funded by the state programme "Economy".
