Supporting energy communities just got easier: free course for municipalities

In March 2026, the European Court of Auditors delivered a sobering verdict in its special report “Energy communities – Potential yet to be fulfilled”: Citizen initiatives often struggle to get timely support from municipal administrations. This is a gap the report links to a lack of local expertise. That gap, cities can close it themselves through targeted training. The free Espresso online course is both short and efficient – just like a shot of coffee is.

Mapping & matching beyond technical solutions

It often all starts with the idea to get rid of fossil energy. Municipalities have strategic goals to increase renewable production. Citizens want to have a say and co-own locally produced energy, but may not have own space for installations. Municipalities own exactly what they need: school roofs, old landfills, water towers, car park shelters. Yet matching the two is a hard job on a civil servant’s desk: where to start, how to map what is there? The Espresso course by Energy Cities focuses on the collaboration between local governments, citizens, SMEs and financial organisations. Each of the six modules gives guidance on how to involve different partners, creating alliances and a common vision. Whether it’s to find public assets or seed funding or to define an inclusive governance model – the course provides practical examples and clear rules on how to proceed.

Contrary to a common belief, an energy project is not all about engineering and tech solutions: People also join an energy community for lower bills, for their values, or for the bond with neighbours. What’s more: Community energy can also reach those usually left out. The City of Porto, with its energy agency AdEPorto, set up Portugal’s first renewable energy community in a social housing estate, in collaboration with the local primary school.

Six ways your municipality can make a difference

1. Enabler. Anchor community energy in local strategy
2. Co-investor. Seed funding, shares or loan guarantees build credibility with banks. The Bristol Community Energy Fund pays for early feasibility studies.
3. Champion of inclusion. Involve social services so energy-poor households can join
4. Connector. Use municipal channels such a community energy one-sto-shop to raise awareness close to where citizens are.
5. Smart buyer. Crevillent (Spain) required that 80% of the electricity from tendered municipal roofs be shared with local citizens.
6. Asset owner. Strasbourg tested school roofs for solar readiness before opening them to its first energy cooperative.

Learn it one espresso at a time

The Espresso training gives local government professionals the basic knowledge to support community energy. It is free, online and self-paced, in 6 modules of about two hours each:

1. What cities can do around energy communities
2. Financing and co-investment
3. Inclusion and inclusivity
4. Communication and stakeholder mapping
5. Public procurement
6. Giving access to municipal assets

The course can be taken in any European language on the learning platform.

Find course details and enrol here.