Keywords: citizen energy, climate protection, resource conservation, environmental communication, environmental technology, capacity building, networking, energy community, rural regions, knowledge transfer, industrial area, green bonds, PPP
Subject and objectives of the project
Using a self-organized approach derived from citizen energy cooperative concepts, this project aims to draw up a development plan for the first carbon-free European industrial cluster. The project includes the elaboration of the foresight with status quo analysis, gap analysis and the elaboration of solutions and development strategy. The development strategy is accompanied by energy simulations and supply/demand calculations. The validation of the concept and the participatory public-private partnership (PPP) approach is carried out with the involvement of regional and international workshops and thus supports the overall development goal of the model expansion of renewable energy capacities in the Trakia Economic Zone (TEZ) – in particular through intelligent PV (generation, storage and smart grid management).
The cluster (“Trakia Economic Zone” – TEZ, Plovdiv, Bulgaria) consists of six industrial zones (in Maritsa, Rakovski, Kuklen, Kaloyanovo and twice in Plovdiv) with a total area of around 1,050 ha. At present, 350 ha of this area is used by more than 200 multinational companies. TEZ is pursuing ambitious ecological goals with its “Carbon Neutral Industrial Park Strategy (CNIP)” 12-point plan. The strategy operationalizes topics such as “green hydrogen”, emission-free electromobility, the industrial transformation towards net zero and a carbon-free energy supply.
Innovation and exemplary nature of the project
The application describes a highly ambitious and dynamic project for the development of an industrial park in Bulgaria towards carbon neutrality in the energy context. For the foresight, which is at the center of the project applied for here, service offers, ideas and instruments of the kind offered in Germany, e.g. in the portfolio of EWS Schönau from the Black Forest, are combined with the topic of green bonds as a PPP format for the counter-financing of investments. This enables a high degree of self-organization from the overall concept inspired by citizen energy cooperatives.
Special aspects of the project
As fixed-interest securities whose issue proceeds are used to finance and refinance the ecological conversion project, green bonds should be the central pillar of financing in a PPP. Green bonds can cover a variety of areas, such as renewable energies, energy efficiency improvements, sustainable water management, clean transportation or climate protection. In PPPs, green bonds are used to organize the cooperation of the public sector with private sectors in a structured but flexible way.
Funding topic 6: Renewable energy, energy saving and efficiency
Project implementation:
Places of activity: Bulgaria
Funding period: November 2024 to November 2026
Project costs: Total volume: 270,920 euros, funding from DBU: 144,430 euros
DBU-AZ: 39891
Status: 17.06.2025