Freistadt builds Austria's largest decentralized energy system

During the official project launch for the expansion of solar storage power plants in Freistadt, project partners and political representatives welcomed 500,000 bees to Freistadt. The summer guests will reside on the roof of the music middle school for a year, where they will diligently produce honey. The first samples of it will be distributed free of charge at Freistadt's main square during the Pumpkin Festival on September 17.

Bees and energy transition

The sponsorship for the summer guests takes over the company Kommunalvertrieb Pirker, which developed and professionally accompanied this large-scale project, together with us as implementing company with the neoom impact invest GmbH, a company of neoom.

Independent and blackout-proof

Decentralized renewable energy systems enable solar power to be generated, stored and consumed on site. As a result, they make cities and communities more independent. At the same time, they are an effective strategy against blackouts. This is possible, because all buildings are equipped with their own electricity storage systems. In the event of a blackout, the buildings can be supplied for some time without a power grid.

No capital investment by the community

The project is also a benefit for Freistadt from a financial point of view: "As a municipality, we don't have to use any capital for this project and even generate a plus for our budget in the long term," says the mayor. Based on analyses and profitability calculations, Hannes Pirker recommended that the municipality outsources both, the operation and the financing of the necessary infrastructure to an external partner. He expects cost savings of 184,000 euros within the first 15 years for the municipality.

"With the products developed by neoom, it is now possible to produce electricity with on-site solar systems and also provide it in a blackout-proof manner by means of electricity storage. In addition, the energy surplus can be shared much more economically between community buildings and citizens."

Walter Kreisel, MBA

CEO & Founder neoom

"We are taking a big step towards the energy transition and want to set up Austria's currently largest decentralised energy system on communal roof surfaces. In the first phase, seven municipal buildings will be interconnected."

Elisabeth Teufer

Bürgermeisterin Freistadt

"Bees are not only one of the most beautiful symbols of the energy transition, they also have a lot to do with decentralised energy systems because they live off solar energy and store it in flowers in the form of nectar and pollen. In the vicinity of solar power plants, a diversity of plants is created that provides a valuable habitat not only for bees, but also for butterflies and other flower-pollinating insects."

Hannes Pirker

GF Kommunalvertrieb