Slovenia eases procedure for establishment of energy communities
December 2020

After the existing regulation was proved to have shortcomings, the Government of Slovenia amended the relevant decree to promote communities that jointly install facilities for the production of energy from renewable sources. The first such cooperative was established in the Luče municipality.

Image: Petrol/balkangreenenergynews

A People-Powered Energy System: Activating the Community Energy Market for Bioenergy
December 2020

Community bioenergy schemes can play a catalytic role in the market uptake of bioenergy heating technologies, yet their deployment nowadays remains significantly slow. While there are numerous energy cooperatives established across Europe, their vast majority focuses on exploiting solar and wind energy with biomass-based communities accounting for only a minor share of existing RESCoops.

Image: EnergySage

Transforming homes into power stations - how Sweden is disrupting energy production

September 2020

54% of Sweden’s power comes from renewables and this energy is increasingly local. Smart grids are switching Swedish homes from energy consumers to power-making ‘prosumers.’ Local ‘district heating’ plants use excess heat to warm the majority of Swedish homes.

Image: Unsplash/weforum.org

Spanish oil giant pushing community solar
May 2020

Through its Solmatch initiative, Spanish fossil fuel company Repsol says it wants to help urban energy communities spread in its homeland. The oil and gas business plans to pay for the installation of rooftop solar panels which can then provide clean energy to energy communities.

Image: Repsol/pv-magazine

Energy community provisions for Italy
March 2020

New measures introduced by the government allow households, businesses and public entities to produce and trade clean electricity in low-voltage grids. The new framework is open to power projects with a generation capacity no larger than 200 kW.

Image: Eneco Group/Flickr

Irish Minister Ryan announces €28 million Government funding call for community energy projects
December 2020

Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, has launched a €28 million fund for community energy projects across Ireland. The Community Energy Grant Scheme is funded under the National Retrofit Programme and is now open for applications. It offers grant support for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects throughout the country. 

Image: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

Italy awards tariff of €0.11/kWh for shared electricity in energy communities
November 2020

Great news! Energy communities in Italy will be awarded a special tariff for all shared power in renewable energy systems not exceeding 200 kW in size. Surplus power can be injected into the grid, but with no remuneration, which may encourage the members of these communities to resort to storage.
Image: Naturalflow/Flickr

Should consumers lead the global energy transition?
August 2020

The answer is: Yes. How much more power could the consumer have? What would they do with that power? And what is their role in the global energy transition? Kelvin Ross asks players in the energy sector.

Image: 123rf/smart-energy

Lithuania Approves Plan To Promote More Renewable Energy Communities
May 2020

The Lithuanian government has recently approved new legislation based on proposals by the Ministry of Energy that will encourage the establishment of renewable energy communities where people and businesses generate their own electricity and share it with each other. Producers of renewable energy will be allowed to sell energy between themselves and to end users, according to the government.

Image: Pixabay/Cyber-grid

Community-generated green electricity to be offered to all in UK
January 2020

UK homes will soon be able to plug into community wind and solar farms from anywhere in the country through the first energy tariff to offer clean electricity exclusively from community projects
Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

Energy Blockchain Can Boost Smart Energy Communities
December 2020

As a cryptographic, peer-to-peer ledger system for the reliable recording of information without centralized authority, blockchain holds promise for sectors like energy that are trending toward decentralization.

A Game Theoretic Approach for Energy Sharing in the Italian Renewable Energy Communities
October 2020

Hundreds of Greek families jointly building solar power plants of 100 MW
July 2020

Agricultural cooperative Agrinio Union said works are underway on a group of photovoltaic facilities developed by the local energy community it established. Five hundred Greek families are jointly building solar power plants of 100 MW in total and the model has been incorporated in the national legal framework for future investments in the country.

The business case for collective self-consumption solar systems in Spain through the lense of Iberdrola's first installation in Madrid
March 2020

CEER Publishes Report on Self-Consumption and Energy Communities
June 2019

CEER has published a Report on Regulatory Aspects of Self-Consumption and Energy Communities. Following the formal recognition of active consumers and the introduction of Citizen Energy Communities (CECs) and Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) in the Clean Energy Package (CEP), CEER sought to analyse the regulatory implications of these new actors.