Renewable energy partnerships

At present, many local governments in Europe are eager to support their citizens in getting renewable energy projects off the ground or in taking a greater role in local energy and climate policies in general. However, most of them still do not know where to start and how to proceed. The same can be said for citizen energy cooperatives, who are not aware of the numerous ways through which they could cooperate with their municipalities, beyond getting public subsidies or access to public land and infrastructure.

Following the adoption of the “Clean Energy Package for All Europeans” in 2019, there is a now a concrete window of opportunity for citizens and their local authorities to jointly set-up Renewable Energy Communities which can take the form of a new legal entity on the electricity or heat market. There too, intense capacity building activities will have to be foreseen to help local governments and their citizens figure out how to set up the associated economic, contractual and governance models, while making sure they comply with the values of a just and shared energy transition.

With this project, together with Friends of the Earth Europe and REScoop.eu, we will develop guidance materials and trainings to highlight the multiple partnership models that exist, their various organizational structures and areas of intervention.

Energy Cities will also set up an EU-level peer-to-peer “Cooperation Lab” ” with the active involvement of three cities from France, Italy and Spain, each accompanied by representatives from their local energy cooperatives / civil society organizations. A series of awareness-raising and capacity-building activities will be also organised in collaboration with our national partners.

These activities are supported by the European Climate Foundation.