Energy communities

Based on year-long research, including methodologies on literature review, the assessment of 98 cases, interviews with experienced professionals and exchanges with experts, RGI and IEECP have developed the Engage4Energy Guidelines for citizens, developers and policymakers on meaningful engagement in energy infrastructure projects. The interactive tool aims at providing guidance for the user, tailored to their specific context.

The customised recommendations follow a general structure based on four key principles: early engagement, transparency, inclusiveness and trust.

They also offer specific actions to implement meaningful engagement through three levels: information sharing, consultation and empowerment. Lastly, the user has access to an inspiring example that showcases how engagement can be led in a meaningful way.

We hope to continuously update the tool. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with Diana Süsser at [email protected], should you have any suggestions for improvement.

Earlier studies realised by BECoop, a project funded by the Horizon 2020 programme, showed that the knowledge and acceptance of biofuel varies from region to region in Europe, making it an untapped source of renewable energy compared to other sources such as solar or wind. To ensure bioenergy’s market expansion –with high potential for replacing fossil fuelled heat-, tools are needed to support market players: BECoop released its self-assessment tool.

Designed for non-specialised, non-experienced users seeking to assess the current state of a cooperative/community bioenergy project, the tool supports various users (provider, facility operators, RESCoops, local/regional authorities, and more) by providing an evaluation methodology, a set of indicators, metrics, definitions and technical as well as business recommendations, after they answer few questions on the resources available, the activity that best represent their initiative, and more. A spider web rating visualises the final results.

To allow the several market actors involved become (bio)energy producers, the BECoop self-assessment tool supports communities in getting prepared to tap the full bioenergy market potential, making them aware of the potential held by their projects. Users can assess the current status and future potential of community bioenergy, revealing and better understanding the gaps, maturity levels for the adoption of bioenergy heating, their level of community engagement, as well as the complexity of the existing framework for procurement and policy design. Users can select the type of biomass resources available – agricultural, forestry, agro-industrial, biomass from urban parks and garden management, and finally wet biomass-, the activity they want to implement and answer few questions. Their answers will help define the level of user engagement, the technical, business and financial solution maturity, as well as the social and environmental impact. Recommended actions appear when the user has answered all questions, guiding them to supporting resources and a score will be assigned depending on the option chosen, building in a graphical output (a spider-net) the project outcomes.

Users can access all BECoop tools with a single login, such as the e-market environment, supporting stakeholders when developing a community bioenergy project and defining the required services and activities for supporting their own cases and the future Knowledge Exchange Platform, a one-stop-shop lifting collaboration barriers across regions and sectors to share information and knowledge, available soon.

Developed within the framework of the BECoop project.

Developed by CIRCE – Centro Tecnológico, this online repository gathers in a single place existing open-source tools useful for the energy communities and bioenergy sectors.

The library allows project owners to identify them more easily, navigate through them and understand which ones best fit their needs. It supports developers and operators of community bioenergy and heating projects with 4 categories of tools, and a direct link to all BECoop tools.

Spot something missing? Contact us!

Introduction to the tool

Developed within the framework of the BECoop project.

The tool aims to develop community bioenergy projects (connecting multiple biomass providers, organise billing, etc.) and defining the required services and activities for supporting their own cases.

Activating a community energy market for bioenergy: a new e-market environment connects biomass heating supply chain stakeholders

While bioenergy holds, in practice, the highest potential for replacing fossil fuelled heat and remains a leading technology in the EU renewable energy heating sector, there is a significantly untapped market uptake potential for it. Several barriers prevent citizens from becoming (bio)energy producers and bioenergy projects to be more appealing, including a lack of preparedness for communities to tap the full bioenergy market potential, and a lack of bioenergy stakeholders’ awareness of the potential of communities. To fill these gaps, BECoop, a project funded by the Horizon 2020 programme, launches a new tool supporting stakeholders involved in the creation or update of community (bio)energy projects.

The e-market environment supports various supply chain stakeholders when developing a community bioenergy project on defining the services and activities needed to support their cases. It demonstrates the various stakeholder interactions and activities/services that must take place to set up an effective and sustainable local supply chain and a community bioenergy project, streamlining the process. The user-friendly, easy to use and intuitive tool, unique in this sector, allows entrepreneurs to identify and contact stakeholders taking part in the supply chain of biomass heating solutions, to carry out their projects, learn from the experience of others and from similar initiatives. It connects supply chain stakeholders to support the creation or operation of new and existing energy communities, including the project pilot energy communities. Now available, it gathers over 60 already sharing their offers/demands, while a second version will be ready by April 2023 and all stakeholders are invited to contribute to grow the environment.

This tool works complementarily with the support services offered by BECoop, encouraging the development and operation of community bioenergy and heating projects. For a people-powered energy system, the Horizon 2020-funded project BECoop (2020-2023) aims at putting communities in charge of their local renewable (bio)energy generation. Bioenergy, a renewable energy source deriving from organic materials, can be used to produce, among else, electricity, heat, and fuels. BECoop is unlocking and activating the underlying market potential of community bioenergy, by providing the necessary conditions, technical as well as business support tools. The project aims to make community bioenergy projects more appealing to potential interested actors and to foster new links and partnerships among the international bioenergy community.

What can users find in the BECoop e-market environment? The tool is not only restricted to members of an energy community/cooperative or RESCoop: it engages all European stakeholders involved in the bioenergy, biomass supply chain and energy communities. Biomass owners/suppliers/management companies, equipment manufacturers, ESCOs and installers, cooperatives/energy communities/RESCoops, investors, research centres, public institutions and many more can explore offers and needs uploaded by others or submit theirs. The offers and demands can be filtered by category (products, services, advice, etc.), country and stakeholder type.

Developed within the framework of the BECoop project.

The Knowledge Exchange Platform is a one-stop-shop lifting collaboration barriers across regions and sectors to share information and knowledge. The platform will have both digital and physical presence and:  

• Creates an easy-to-access repository of knowledge, tools and services in the field of community bioenergy heating.  
• Acts as an observatory/atlas of bioenergy community cases (and community energy cases with high potential to include bioenergy), technologies and service providers.  
• Offers a digital space for fostering cross-regional networking, dialogue and knowledge exchange among community bioenergy actors. 

Developed within the framework of the BECoop project.