Peer review: Fast-tracking of Renewable Energy Communities in the Cypriot Context

What will it be about?

Local authorities in Cyprus are recognized as important partners in the implementation of structural reforms and investments for accelerating the transition to a green economy. They are notably in charge of the local implementation of the green energy transition.

Local Community Councils, however, are faced with several challenges that significantly impede their capacity to undertake sustainable energy and climate action.

Having identified the aforementioned challenges, the Cyprus Energy Agency (CEA) and the Union of Cyprus Communities have secured funds under Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) for supporting the Cypriot local authorities to develop Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) as strategic planning instruments for green energy and climate adaptation measures, thus transferring long-term sustainability in their territory.

To fill these SECAPs with life, the Cyprus Energy Agency has identified Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) as a very promising tool for the transformation of the traditional fossil-based energy systems into renewable, decentralised, citizen-owned new green energy systems. These RECs work well in many other European countries such as Austria, the BENELUX, Germany, France and Scandinavia.

As there are no Renewable Energy Communities currently in Cyprus, the CEA would like to use the peer review in order to create a tailored approach for fast-tracking RECs for Cypriot local authorities aiming for the successful implementation of the Joint SECAPs and achieving the climate neutrality target.

The peer review will be moderated by Katharina Krell, Thematic Expert on Low-carbon economy, and Astrid Severin, Thematic Expert on Environment & Resource efficiency.

The peer review is an invitation-only event. However, key learnings of the peer review will be published afterwards in a follow-up article on the Interreg Europe website.

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