Michael ten Donkelaar, Pavel Skalník (ENVIROS), and František Rejl (Hradec Region) represented the Czech Republic at the HERCULES-CE project partner meeting, which took place on December 11–12, 2025, in Eisenstadt, Austria, at the premises of project partner Hochschule Burgenland. The project partners gathered there to discuss progress to date, particularly their activities focused on establishing Renewable Energy Communities (RECs).
František Rejl presented the steps taken so far toward establishing an energy community in the Hradec countryside, which is expected to be launched in the first half of 2026. Michael ten Donkelaar and Pavel Skalník then summarized the main risks associated with preparing renewable energy projects (known as risk assessment) and emphasized the importance of high-quality project preparation. At the same time, they recommended approaching the design of the energy community realistically and with an appropriate degree of caution, especially in the initial phase of its development.
At the project meeting, other partners also presented progress on establishing energy communities in their regions. The program also included a presentation of several examples of best practices prepared by the Austrian consulting firm Optivice Energy.