Call for proposals: Apply for a €45,000 grant for your Energy Community!

The European Energy Communities Facility has launched a call for proposals! Until 30 September 2025, emerging energy communities from the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Moldova, North Macedonia and Ukraine can apply for a lump sum grant of €45,000 to develop a robust business plan for their project. Moreover, successful applicants will have access to national peer-to-peer exchanges and a capacity-building programme to support them in developing and implementing the business plan. In this call, the Facility will distribute a total of over €3 million among 73 initiatives, empowering citizens to drive a fair, democratic and sustainable energy transition.

The grant will cover all groundwork needed to prepare a business plan for an energy community: technical and financial assessments, legal and administrative procedures, and other pre-development tasks such as feasibility studies. Preparatory work necessary to structure a sound, viable, and bankable business plan can be covered too. While the main objective of the call is to help emerging energy communities secure the financing required to bring their project to life and professionalise their activities, already established energy communities aiming to explore new services can also apply.

How to apply

The only requirements to apply are to be registered as a legal entity, comply with one of the EU definitions for energy communities, be based in an eligible country, and commit to follow up on the grant obligations. You can use the eligibility self-check to find out whether you are eligible.

To offer equal opportunities to all, applications will be split into two region categories based on the legal framework for energy communities in each country. This means that initiatives developed in countries where the context for community energy is more challenging will not have to compete with those from countries with a more favourable context. Applications will be evaluated by independent experts to ensure a fair and balanced assessment. These experts will assess the energy community’s operations and readiness, its project ambition, the coherence and plausibility of the proposal, and the impact on the local community.

To guide energy communities through the application process national info sessions, in the local language, are being organised across eligible countries. Keep an eye on the Facility’s events page to find yours.

Are you ready to take your community energy project to the next level?

About the European Energy Communities Facility

The European Energy Communities Facility is an EU-funded project that aims to empower and support the development of energy communities across Europe. It aims to support at least 140 energy communities in developing solid business plans through lump sum grants and a tailored capacity-building programme. The project covers the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Moldova, North Macedonia and Ukraine.

The project is being implemented by a consortium of experienced organisations led by REScoop.eu and including FEDARENE, Energy Cities, GNE Finance, Ecorys, Ricardo and Akaryon. To ensure the broadest reach and the most effective support at the local level, the European Energy Communities Facility will collaborate with a network of 29 national experts who will build connections with the local initiatives.

Funded by the European Union under the Life Programme, the project was launched in September 2024 and will last until February 2028, and builds on the successful experiences of the Energy Communities Repository, the Rural Energy Communities Advisory Hub and the European City Facility, intending to consolidate and extend the scope of these initiatives.