Benchmark of EU projects related to energy communities (EC)

Current Horizon 2020 (H2020) and Horizon Europe (HEUR) projects focusing directly on ECs where FEDECOM seeks collaborations, include: ACCEPT (ACtive Communities & Energy Prosumers for the energy Transition), SERENE (Sustainable and Integrated Energy Systems in Local Communities), SUSTENANCE (Sustainable energy system for achieving novel carbon neutral energy communities), SCCALE 203050 (Sustainable Collective Citizen Action for a Local Europe 20-30-50), EC2 (Energy Citizenship and Energy Communities for a Clean Energy Transition), ECCO (Creating new local Energy Community Co-Operatives), Sun4All (Eurosolar for all: energy communities for a fair energy transition in Europe), eNeuron (greEN Energy hUbs for local integRated energy cOmmunities optimizatioN), POCITYF (A POsitive Energy CITY Transformation Framework), REACT (RE for self-sustAinable island CommuniTies), DE-RISK (DE-RISK the adoption of Local Flexibility Markets to unlock the safe and reliable mass deployment of RE Systems), CREATORS (CREATing cOmmunity eneRgy Systems), MASTERPIECE (Multidisciplinary Approaches and Software Technologies for Engagement), LocalRES (Empowering local RECs for the decarbonisation of the energy systems), COMMUNITAS (Bound to accelerate the roll-out and expansion of Energy Communities and empower consumers as fully-fledged energy market players), SHAREs (Simple and Smart Energy Communities for All), HESTIA (Holistic dEmand response Services for European residenTIAl communities), LIGHTNESS (market uptake of citizen energy communities enabLing a hIGH peneTratioN of RES), NEON (Next-Generation Integrated Energy Services fOr Citizen Energy CommuNities), RESCHOOL (Strategies and tOOls for Incentivization and management of flexibility in Energy Communities with distributed Resources), and NRG2Peers (Towards a new generation of EU peer-to-peer Energy Communities facilitated by a gamified platform and empowered by user-centred energy trading mechanisms and BMs).

ECs resulting from the LIFE 3.0 Programme 2020 (Call for proposals 2021) are: TANDEMS (Collaboration between cities/regions and energy cooperatives as vehicles to accelerate the energy transition), LIFE-BECKON (Boosting Energy Communities massive deployment by equipping local authorities with comprehensive technical assistance cooKboOk, integrated services and capacity buildiNg), COHEAT2 (Paving way for energy renovations and the transition from fossil fuels to green, local heat supply in the Region of Southern Denmark), ACCE (Access to Capital for Community Energy), JALON (Joining Actors for LOcal development of New large-scale regional energy communities), COMANAGE (Developing a transnational governance and holistic integrated services framework supporting the sustainability of European energy communities), LIFE LOOP (Energy Communities – Local Ownership of Power), ConnectHeat (Community Engagement for Clean Heat), ODYSSEE-MURE (Monitoring the Energy Efficiency Pillar for Climate Neutrality), and 3DIVERSE (Decentralization, Diversity and Dynamic load regulation – novel approaches to tangible energy transition with diversification of production sources).

One interesting multi-city EC project is being funded by the DECIDE H2020 project, managed by ENBRO using their Gaele platform enabling automatic switching to the cheapest supplier. ENBRO has a growing database and structured approach on energy profiles, allowing consumers to optimise solutions for target markets based upon real data. The EC pilots in the 4 cities (i.e., France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany) include mostly social housing, but are open to all residential clients, public and commercial buildings. The collective purchase actions within DECIDE are open to all ENBRO clients (and ENBRO will offer that service to the other pilots as well).

Even recently closed (or soon to be closing) EU projects on ECs are being investigated in FEDECOM. Examples include: REScoop MECISE (RES Cooperative for Solidarity and Mutual Assistance Mechanisms in Central and Eastern Europe); MUSE GRIDS (Multi Utilities Smart Energy GRIDS); MERLON (Development of an integrated modular local energy management framework for the holistic operational optimisation of local energy systems), COMPILE (Integrating community power in energy islands), RENAISSANCE (RENewAble Integration and SuStainAbility iN energy CommunitiEs), E-LAND (Integrated multi-vector management system for Energy isLANDs), IELECTRIX (Indian and European Local Energy CommuniTies for Renewable Integration and the Energy Transition), ROLECS (Roll out of local energy communities), COME RES (Community Energy for the uptake of RES in the electricity sector. Connecting long-term visions with short-term actions), UP-STAIRS (UP-lifting Communities: Structuring collective Action for Sustainable local Transition and Identifying Regulatory Solutions for adopting frontier technologies and disruptive BMs), NEWCOMERS (New Clean Energy Communities in a Changing European Energy System, COMETS (COllective action Models for Energy Transition and Social Innovation), SocialRES (Fostering socially innovative and inclusive strategies for empowering citizens in the renewable energy market of the future), PowerPoor (Empowering Energy Poor Citizens through Joint Energy Initiatives), SCORE (Supporting Consumer Ownership in Renewable Energies), DECIDE (Developing Energy Communities through Informative anD collEctive actions), SONNET (Social Innovation in Energy Transitions), SMARTEES (Social Innovation Modelling Approaches to Realizing Transition to Energy Efficiency and Sustainability), BECoop (Unlocking the community energy potential to support the market uptake of bioenergy heating technologies), eCREW (establishing Community Renewable Energy Webs – Rolling out a business model and operational tool creating webs of households that jointly manage energy to improve efficiency and renewables uptake), RENergetic (Community-empowered Sustainable Multi-Vector Energy Islands), REScoopVPP (Smart Building Ecosystem for ECs), GECO (Green EC), PROSEU (PROSumers for the Energy Union: mainstreaming active participation of citizens in the energy transition), and two INTERREG projects: Energize Co2mmunity, and cVPP (Community-based VPP).

By Zia Lennard, R2M France