Energy communities, their potential and how to boost citizen engagement
About the Event
Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) are citizen-led legal entities such as associations, cooperatives or small enterprises that produce, manage and consume electricity from local renewable sources. By enabling citizens, municipalities, SMEs and other local actors to jointly own and benefit from energy infrastructure, RECs play a key role in accelerating the energy transition while strengthening local economies.
The three LIFE-funded projects, POWER-E-COM, DISCOVER and ISLET, co-funded by the European Union, address the on the ground development of RECs across Europe.
POWER-E-COM aims to foster cooperation between regional and local authorities and citizens so that community energy projects can be realised in regions across six different European countries, with differing levels of knowledge on the topic and citizen involvement. Involved stakeholders have been trained, mentored, supported and enabled to start, develop, run and grow energy communities, based on adapted and evolving business models. Results will be disseminated and replicated across Europe.
The DISCOVER project aims to facilitate the launch of new Community Energy Projects by offering support services to initiators, including information provision and guidance, decision-making facilitation and stakeholder interconnection. DISCOVER covers five European regions and has launched four One Stop Shops in four of them as service hubs.
The ISLET project aims to support collaboration between public authorities, private investors and citizens in order to develop renewable energy communities on small Mediterranean islands. It involves three pilot islands in designing and testing a REC model that can be applied across small Mediterranean islands, which often face the most severe consequences of climate change.
Bringing together practitioners, policymakers and citizens interested in the development of RECs across Europe, this event marks the final conference of the three LIFE-funded projects. Participants will explore the main barriers to creating energy communities and how to overcome them, gain insights into key technical aspects of the process, and learn from concrete best practices implemented in different national and regional contexts.
Agenda
Welcome participants and introduction – FEDARENE | 15:00
Keynote speech: Setting the scene on energy communities: what they are and why their importance is increasing – Vinicius Valente, CINEA | 15:15
POWER-E-COM: Chances, Challenges & Changes: Energy communities on the rise!? – Ingo Ball, WIP | 15:30
ISLET: Learnings on community building for renewable energy communities – Alexis Chatzimpiros, Samsø Energiakademi | 15:45
DISCOVER: The cost of success: When the growth of energy communities creates new challenges – Helmut Herglotz, Pixel Energy Solutions | 16:00
POWER-E-COM: Business models for European energy communities –
Francisco Puente / Álvaro Moral, ESCAN | 16:15
ISLET: Experiences from renewable energy communities on islands – Élodie Bossio, FEDARENE | 16:30
DISCOVER: Building trust in energy communities: the role of transparency and governance – Damir Medved, Without Borders | 16:45
Q&A. FEDARENE | 17:00
Wrap-up & Conclusions – FEDARENE | 17:20
Networking Cocktail: A refreshment will be served to the in-person attendees on Comet Meeting’s floor 0. | 18:00 – 19:30
