The ELVA Summary
In a number of European countries such as Austria, Finland, Sweden, France and southern Germany significant numbers of projects using biomass in small district heating applications have been established in the last decade. The majority of member states, however have very little or no experience at all with this technology. This project has taken advantage on the already advanced progress of biomass heat applications and technologies in order to focus on the market mechanisms related to the value chain and the associated training activities.

Some of the main findings from the project are:

• The ELVA project has revealed important cross sector relations in terms of value chains and value creation.
• The ELVA project has actively contributed to kick-start a wider range of activity at local level
• The ELVA project has confirmed that some the most important barriers to RES Heat implementation originate from both institutional and human lack of knowledge, and that training and capacity building at all levels are critical factors for success.
• The ELVA project shows that a strict “model approach” can be difficult to implement in public sector organisations at local level, but that the model-elements still are important to deal with in order to identify the best driving forces for RES heat development at local level. The best approach would therefore be to use the ELVA model in a more comprehensive, local energy planning process.

 Summary (PDF)
 Fact sheet (PDF)

The ELVA project is now completed, publishable final report is available here !!

Case studies brochure available here!!

The ELVA Vision
The ELVA vision is to help making RES heating grids a commonly used technology throughout Europe by effective know-how transfer and by contributing to the development of appropriate decision making tools as well as national and EU-wide framework conditions.

The ELVA Objectives:
Conceptualise a management model of how to establish effective local value chains that can be used as blueprint for local RES heat development.

Make local policy actors aware of the opportunities created by local value chains for RES heat and educate them in how to establish public-business-citizen partnerships.

Educate energy advisors in the respective countries in a way that enables them to assess and develop projects in interested communities.

Analyse the requirements regarding legislative conditions that would support market development both on national and on EU level.

The ELVA Work Packages:

WP1 -Review
The objective of WP1 is to understand the main mechanisms affecting the development of RES Heat markets at local level. This will be achieved by interviewing target groups that are related to the selected case-study communities

 RES Heat Markets - Review and state of the art

 

WP2 -Analyses
The objective of WP2 is to analyse and understand the impacts the critical success factors that have been identified under WP1 can have on the local RES Heat markets. This understanding is necessary for the development of the economic model under WP3.

Analyses have been made on the following topics that are of potentially high relevance to the development of RES Heat Markets.

 Critical Mass of RES Heat Markets

 The Role of Local Energy Planning and Local Energy Agencies in RES Heat Market Development

 Public Private Partnerships in RES Heat Market Development

Furthermore, a Synthesis report compiles the findings from the three topic analyses.

 Synthesis Report

WP3 - Model
Based on the understanding of the market mechanisms affecting RES Heat markets at a local level that has been established in WP1 and WP2, this WP will develop a new management model for the development of local RES Heat markets. The Model will primarily focus on the managerial aspects affecting the market development, and in particular the roles played by the local authorities in stimulating and collaboration with commercial actors and end-users.  

 ELVA Management Model for RES Heat Market Assessment

  WP4 - Case studies
The objective of WP4 is to establish a catalogue of real case initiatives (1 for each participating country) where RES Heat market value chains have been addressed by use of the ELVA-model.The feasibility studies will be carried out in local communities where investment decisions on e.g. pellet production, district heating systems etc. has already been taken, and the development of the local RES Heat market is in the process/about to be formed.

 ELVA Case studies

 WP5 - Legislative conditions
The objective of WP5 is to assess the grounds on which for a RES Heat legislative initiative could be based, and of the possible reactions to such an initiative at the level of member states and of possible targets such an initiative could aim at.

 ELVA study on legislative issues

  WP6 - Project specific dissemination, and training
ELVA aims at educating trainers and experts in organizations that are active in information activities for local politicians. These trainers will learn, how local bioenergy value chains based on public-private citizen partnerships can be established and pass on this knowledge to their clients –local politicians - which play a key role for realising successful projects.
In addition to that energy advisors will be trained to be able to manage the more technical questions to conceptualise and evaluate local projects. An important tool for this purpose will be the management model to be developed in the course of the project.

 ELVA training and dissemination acvtivities