Key learnings from Renewable Energy Communities projects
The Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform organised an online discussion between projects focused on Renewable Energy Communities on 9 April 2024, to introduce them to each other, build cross-project connections, and identify areas of co-operation, both directly between projects and with the Policy Learning Platform.
The discussion was closed to external participants, but will result in activities of interest to the wider Interreg Europe audience. The participating projects were BIOWIND, LEEWAY, REC4EU, ShareRES and SIreNERGY.
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Some insights from the online discussion
Sharing Methodologies
All projects briefly presented themselves, their activities, their challenges, and opportunities for co-operation. As projects are in in their early stages, a main interest was in collaborating on methodologies for regional assessment. The projects have begun their presentations with differing approaches for analysing their partner regions, understanding their legislative frameworks, and identifying barriers that need to be overcome. The projects will share their methodologies and regional assessments, to allow for a wider view of the barriers to the proliferation of energy communities across Europe.
Collaborating on Common Challenges
Projects noted several areas of common concern, where good practices and reports will be shared between projects. These include application and permitting procedures, legal frameworks, finance, business models and legal forms. A particular focus is, understandably, in how to approach and engage citizens, including how to use energy communities to help alleviate energy poverty.
Policy Learning Platform Workshop and Events
The Policy Learning Platform will arrange an in-person workshop towards the end of 2024, back-to-back with European Commission DG Energy’s Citizen Energy Forum. The agenda built with the projects, under the preliminary title ‘Building Citizen Acceptance and Engagement in Energy Communities’, looking at citizen engagement, business models to make participation financially interesting, and different legal entities. The Policy Learning Platform will also run a webinar series on energy communities in late 2025. Further work on this will be done after the workshop,
Communication and Outreach
The projects recognised the benefits of collaborating in communication, and will support each other on social media, as well as considering participating in each other’s events and developing joint sessions for occasions such as the EU Sustainable Energy Week, or the EU Week of Regions and Cities.
Find Out More on Energy Communities
For more on energy communities, you can explore:
- The Policy Learning Platform’s Policy Briefs on Empowering Citizens for Energy Communities and Tackling Energy Poverty with Low-carbon Interventions
- Stories on Yes In My Backyard!, Enabling community energy in Normandy, and the REScoop network
- The webinars on Mobilising citizen finance for renewables and on Approaches for fighting energy poverty