Can Smarter Tools Help Energy Communities Scale in the Czech Republic?

Energy communities in the Czech Republic have strong potential, yet their wider deployment remains slow. One of the key barriers is the complexity of local energy planning, which still relies on tools and studies that are often difficult to use, expensive, and quickly outdated. Through the agile pilot led by EnerCo Solutions in Bystřice, PilotInnCities is helping demonstrate a more practical and forward-looking approach.

Developed by Lukáš Janota and Petr Jílek, whose work originates from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, the pilot introduces a digital tool designed to make local energy planning more accessible, dynamic, and effective for municipalities.

At the centre of the pilot is the EnerCa software, which creates a digital twin of the local energy network and consumption. Unlike traditional local energy studies, the tool offers a simple interface suitable even for non-expert users, is continuously updated as new developments occur, and uses advanced AI-based calculations to support more accurate planning.

This marks a significant shift from the conventional model of local energy studies, which are often static, costly, and outdated by the time they are delivered. Such studies frequently fail to reflect long-term trends or future developments, leaving municipalities to make strategic decisions based on incomplete or already obsolete data.

With the EnerCa solution, municipalities gain several practical advantages. These include a real-time overview of the local energy network, scenario modelling for future development, investment profitability calculations for energy sources and storage, optimisation of capacity and placement, and stronger support for informed decision-making and stakeholder communication.

Feedback from Mayor Michal Hodík, who described the pilot as a game-changing innovation, highlights the value of this experiment. It also reflects the broader ambition of PilotInnCities: to reduce the risks associated with testing new solutions and to build a systematic pipeline of scalable innovations rather than isolated success stories.

The pilot is supervised by the Czech project partners:
Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic (Miroslav Scheiner, Kateřina Kökényová, Viktor Holy),
CzechInvest (Dominik Gřešák), and
Gatum Group (Mikuláš Prouza, Pavel Kuka, Tomáš Patočka).

Those interested in learning more will also have the opportunity to meet the key actors behind the pilot at URBIS – The Smart Cities Meetup in Brno on 2 June 2026, during a session on Energy Communities featuring Unie komunitní energetiky and live insights from the main pilot protagonists.