Resalta: This decade will be key to implementing energy efficiency and

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Resalta: This decade will be key to implementing energy efficiency and renewables

Date: October 27^th 2021

Author: Alenka Lena Klopčič

Category: En.vision

Topic: Electricity , Renewables , New technologies , En.vision

Why this decade is crucial for establishing a sustainable and carbon-neutral future, is explained by Luka Komazec, director of Resalta, which has just introduced a new product for companies to offset their carbon footprint.

“We had a rocky ride arriving to where we are today. Like every start-up and newcomer on the energy market, very early on we faced many challenges, but on the other hand we also had some unique growth opportunities. Looking at our track record, you will see that we were very successful in exploiting these opportunities, and our success can be attributed to the following key factors: a strong entrepreneurial team guided by a powerful mission and awareness of the impact our work has on the environment. Up until now, we have managed to reduce the carbon footprint with our clients by more than 80 thousand tons, and that is the most important KPI for every Resalta team member. Second, we were able to attract sufficient growth capital. I’m very proud that in Resalta’s shareholder structure you will find investors like EIF, SID bank, two venture funds, and two local energy players, Energetika Ljubljana and PPD. The third factor behind our successful development into one of the most sizable independent ESCO companies in the region lies in the fact that we as a team always had a pretty good idea about who we are and where we need to go in order to deliver value to our customers in the public and private sectors,” Luka Komazec, director of Resalta, once a startup and now a well-known and respected energy company, explained when answering Energetika.NET’s question about Resalta’s path in the latest video interview for the special ‘Clean Tech Entrepreneurs for a Sustainable Future’ video series conducted by Energetika.NET for its energy sector audience and supported by WorldChicago.

Since the latest news from Resalta is that together with Belektron Ekotrading the company now offers a product to the market that enables other companies to offset their carbon footprint through participation in Resalta's environmental projects, Energetika.NET asked Komazec about this new solution for companies to “neutralize their emissions and at the same time create wider social and environmental effects.”

“Resalta’s mission will always primarily be to implement carbon abatement and reduction projects. We indeed prioritize companies making real changes to reduce emissions. However, we are realistic, and we know that getting to carbon zero is a process that will take many years. What carbon offsets allow is for companies to invest in projects that are green and that reduce emissions, in a way that balances out the emissions they themselves cannot just now reduce. So this is a great product for those who really want to make a difference, because it is investing in green, sustainable projects with a local community impact. Belektron Ekotrading is a great partner for us here, they have been active on the voluntary carbon markets for many years and we are learning a lot from their experience,” Komazec explains.

Renewables - the right solution in every aspect

Of course, in times of record energy prices we could not neglect the question of whether the “unbelievable growth of energy prices which we are witnessing this year will compel companies to invest more in energy efficiency solutions and their own energy production,” to which Komazec replied: “I think the reaction to the growth of energy prices globally remains to be seen. I’m afraid the winter is going to be unpleasant in many parts of the world. Now, I do believe that the conclusion that should be drawn from this is that we would all hugely benefit from an increased uptake in renewables – they not only hedge against rising energy prices, but also are immune to rising carbon prices and provide energy independence. Renewables are clearly the right solution in every aspect, I hope this current crisis will serve to convince people that it’s a no-brainer.”

Becoming the first Carbon Disclosure Project partner in the region

The year 2020 was “definitely full of challenges”, as well as reconsiderations, as Luka Komazec told Energetika.NET in a February’s video interview (in Slovenian only). Nevertheless, it was a year of many milestones for the company – from its continued work on the energy retrofit project for the city of Ljubljana (the largest project of its kind in Europe, affecting more than a hundred buildings), to the CHP project taking place at Czechia’s (and Central Europe’s) largest water park. Additionally, Resalta continued its work on an interesting energy project at Serbia’s largest penitentiary and installed a new boiler room at the Zagreb airport in Croatia. In Slovenia, the company worked on its largest solar power plant project on the rooftop of last year’s 'Factory of the Year', BSH Hišni aparati.

When asked about current projects in this vein, Komazec says that as usual, they have a very strong and ambitious pipeline. “Those who are following Resalta, know that we have been quite productive on all of the markets where we are active, we have signed more than 20 major deals already in this year, from solar pv projects in Romania, to new CHP deals in Czechia, sizable retrofit projects in Slovenia and some major industrial deals in Croatia and Serbia. What should be noted is that in this year we are really starting to see some real demand for and interest in decarbonisation services. In line with this, we are repositioning Resalta’s business to truly be a decarbonisation solutions provider, which means taking a more holistic and integrated approach to carbon reduction. Our service portfolio is based on four pillars. The first is energy efficiency, as the cheapest energy is the energy we do not use, the second is decarbonisation of electricity, where our main future is the Solar PPA business model, the third is decarbonisation of heat, where we have considerable expertise in biomass and heat-pump heat production, and the fourth is carbon offsetting, which we developed together with Belektron.”

Further down the line, Komazec says that they are also in the process of becoming an Accredited Services Provider with the Carbon Disclosure Project, which would make Resalta the first such partner in the region. “The CDP is the world’s leading emissions reporting institution, and I think introducing the CDP little by little among our clients and in the region will be great because they encourage carbon measuring and reporting. The logic is of course that you can’t reduce or improve what you can’t measure, so encouraging companies to measure and report their emissions is a key step to achieving carbon zero.”

This decade will be crucial…

When looking to the future, Energetika.NET also asked Luka Komazec if he believes that Europe is capable of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 or even achieving 55% greenhouse gas reduction by 2030, given the fact that the physical installation of (energy) facilities is still moving rather slowly. His answer is optimistic.

“I think that it is possible and I think the Green New Deal is promising. What I can say for certain, and it has been modelled by the International Energy Agency, is that this decade will be crucial to implementing energy efficiency and renewables solutions to the absolute maximum degree possible. After that, we should hit a ceiling of sorts and we will have to rely on new technologies, or technologies and fuel sources which are still underused or under-developed (like green hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, etc.). This decade is, however, crucial, because it should be obvious to everyone that there is no magic bullet, and that even these new technologies, however promising, won't be able to fix anything unless we use our current resources wisely and maximize the share of renewable energy sources in our energy mix and optimize efficiency as much as possible.”

Resalta's mission by 2030 is to help clients decarbonise as best as they can with the available solutions, so that they are ready for the next steps. Net zero is going to be a long journey, so it's important to start right away, Komazec concludes.

If you want to learn more about Resalta, visit their webpage: www.resalta.com.