FEDARENE members shine at EU-level with ground-breaking solar projects

With around 80% of energy consumption in the European Union linked to urban activity, local and regional public authorities and energy agencies are on the frontlines of the climate and energy crises.  

Drawing on the experiences of 33 cities, the report brings to life the 21 technical and regulatory ways, that cities and solar power can uplift each other. These solutions serve to tap into the solar revolution and to strengthen the cooperation with local authorities’ networks.  

It is worth highlighting that out of the 21 solutions, 9 good practices have been implemented by 7 FEDARENE members. Congratulations to them and to the inspiring projects that they had the opportunity to present in this comprehensive report “Solar Cities: above and beyond rooftops: 21 solar solutions for the city energy transition”: 

• The 2 PVs projects, supported by ITC, in Cabildo and in the energy community of Alojera on the La Gomera Gran Canaria island, that has committed 100% renewable transition thanks to distributed generation. (more info p.21) 
• The public-private partnership led by EKIOLA, which focuses on creating prosumer power cooperatives, building and operating PV parks in the Basque Country through agreements with municipalities and citizens. (more info on the project supported by EVE p. 22) 
• The local companies of ‘Centrales Villageoises’ whose shareholders are mainly citizens, local municipalities, and local companies. In 2021, it represented 5,150 shareholders and 350 solar PV plants in operation. (more info on the project supported by AURA EE p. 27) 
• The family-owned, local agribusiness of Kehoe’s Ketripack, which operated a conversion to solar energy and energy efficiency, that made them save € 2,443 a month on electricity. (more info on the project supported by SEEA p. 28) 

• The solar roofs programme of the city of Zagreb, aiming to significantly increase its share of renewable energy production through building-integrated PV installations. (more info on the project supported by REGEA p. 30) 
• The Solar PV potential tool, developed by the city of Zagreb, and which enables the calculation of relevant parameters for installation of PV systems on buildings (more info on the project supported by REGEA p. 35) 
• Upper Austria region already has 35,000 PV systems, covering 15% of the annual residential electricity demand, and saving 100,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. (more info on this success enabled by ESV p. 41) 
• ‘The Future of Solar’ (Framtidens Solel), involving the Örebro County Energy Agency (Energikontoret) and the Mälardalen Energy Agency (more info p. 43) 
• The Basque Energy Cluster, a non-profit organisation set up to foster the coordination of the rollout of the local solar PV ecosystem. (more info on this project supported by EVE p. 46) 

This report is meant to have great visibility and to be shared as broadly as possible, to key decision-makers at different level of governance. Therefore, it has been presented to a broad audience in Brussels on 14 June, in the frame of the Brussels Urban summit. Feedback from the audience were all very positive and encouraging. It was a great opportunity to advocate for innovative solar projects, solar energy communities and the involvement of local stakeholders and citizens in driving the transition.

“All the local-scale projects in this report are inspiring examples, paving the path to broader deployment of solar power and renewable energy across Europe and showing how much cities, regions, and energy agencies are key stakeholders in the ramping up of the energy transition.”

Julije Domac, President of FEDARENE and Managing Director of REGEA (HR) commented.