RenewMap – Cross-border Renewable
Energy Potential Mapping

The RenewMap project is being implemented in cooperation between IRS (HUN-REN CERS, Institute for Regional Studies) and FERIT (Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CSITO) with the support of two involved local governmental actors, with research and development activities affecting the programme region, which will physically take place in the cities of Pécs and Osijek, while testing phase and investment preparatory actions will be in two legging-behind settlements, Erdut and Keszthely.

The RenewMap project launches cross-border actions (awareness raising events, knowledge transfer efforts, researches, surveys, public and scientific publications) to increase energy awareness among local stakeholders of the total programme region and reduce GHG emissions with two innovative IT solutions (GIS mapping, mobile App), which are the main results of the project. The main objective of the 24 months long project is promoting energy efficiency of local public and private stakeholders and contributing to energy transition with the help of the collected and represented renewable resource information and online decision making support system.

The developed 2 innovative IT tools can function as a tool for local/regional planning and also as a planning tool for individual building renovation projects. Energy planning is a process that requires special expertise, that is why it is often a long way to recognize the need for planning and investments. The tools we have developed will facilitate the thinking and preliminary estimates of non-experts regarding locally applicable RES solutions and recommended energy developments in a given building.

Our innovation tools can support the development of the local economy by encouraging cooperation, implementing joint developments and utilizing previously unrecognized local RES resources, based on which the development potential of the region can be strengthened. The primary users of the potential map and the mobile App based on it will be public actors involved in settlement/urban planning, and public service providers of programme area. But other actors (potential household and corporate investors, building owners), energy consultants, service providers operating in the sector, and the construction companies are also in the direct target groups.

The biggest achievement of the IT tools is that it provides munition for the organization of cross-border projects that would guide local actors in the direction of RES solutions that cross the border area. FERIT will work on building energy surveys and developments, as well as on the exploration of Croatian specificities, while IRS will be active in the areas of RES potential assessment and calculation, NPV calculations and Hungarian situation analysis. The common methodology applied covers a common analysis, calculation schemes that can be used on both sides of the border, operating with common procedures, and common approaches used for the development of IT tools.