The support association for the “Prize for Solidarity Energy” will end, but the idea should live on. New formats are now being sought for this.
Since 2010, the Solidarity Funding Association has been awarding the “Solidary Energy Prize” worth 3,000 euros every year. It goes to people or groups from the areas of social affairs, education and culture. The prize money is generated with solar systems that the Schönau electricity works (EWS) were able to install on roofs in Freiburg and Schönau; In addition, the donations from the Volksbank Freiburg in the amount of the income and other donations were added.
This year the prize will be awarded for the last time, the association announced. “The original idea no longer works,” says CEO Michael Quisinsky. The legal support for solar systems has improved so much in recent years that it has become difficult for the association to find roofs: “The framework conditions have simply changed.” That’s why the prize should be awarded for the last time at a party on October 11, “with a look back at a very good, successful time”. While the association is ending its activities, one is still thinking about continuing the idea of solidarity energy with new formats, says Quisinsky: “Everything is still in flux.”
For this year, this means that non-profit corporations and initiatives from the social, educational and cultural sectors from the districts of Emmendingen, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, the Kaiserstuhl and Freiburg can once again apply with their projects for the “Prize for Solidarity Energy”; the application period ends on May 1, 2023. All information, award requirements and funding applications at mehr.bz/solidarpreis23
