They all struggle on their path to sustainability: citizens who want to get active in energy sharing, local authorities who want to produce and consume with others. But where to start and how to do this together? Starting from the common challenges, the LIFE LOOP project has been launched to bring both worlds together.
A strong and unusual team of city practitioners from local administrations, citizen initiatives, city and cooperative networks have joined forces to connect, train and guide cities and citizens in their community energy projects.
The team of experts from all over Europe, aims at raising awareness about the benefits of community energy. Based on the needs and constraints of municipal authorities, LIFE LOOP is also building the capacity needed to initiate new energy projects, particularly in regions where the community approach is undervalued. Through a series of activities, including events in the public space such as the Solar Energy Tour in Zagreb, the presentation of other successful initiatives in the region, workshops developing community energy roadmaps, and a community energy accreditation scheme for municipalities, the project seeks to strengthen municipal support for energy communities.
The focus is on elevating city staff and citizens in Zagreb (Croatia), Bistrita (Romania) and Crete (Greece) around the joint production and sharing of local, renewable energy.
Besides hands-on resources like templates and guides, cities will be able to assess, improve and display their energy community assets through Europe’s first ever community energy accreditation scheme. This program is designed to bridge the knowledge gap by offering municipalities online training sessions on community energy topics and by allowing them to self-assess their current policy practices.
Navigating challenges, replicating successes
As the project facilitates effective partnerships between municipalities, energy communities, and citizen-led initiatives, we may clear the path for followers elsewhere in Europe. We all know that the journey remains filled with stumbling blocks: regulatory barriers, funding constraints, unclear legal definitions or limited awareness among citizens and authorities can hinder progress. Let’s get inspired by successful projects such as the very first LIFE LOOP 1 MW community solar project that has been installed by Minoan Energy in Patras in June 2024!
What happens in the three pilots will be shared with Gabrovo in Bulgaria, Ussaramanna and Villanovaforru in Italy, Nicosia in Cyprus and Tulcea in Romania. Those “satellites” will closely follow the pilot activities and will be supported in setting their own community energy targets and making their own projects come true. And as we want to spread the energy community fever, we’ll work with associated partners in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia.
Discover more about energy community efforts from Greece to Romania on the LIFE LOOP pages
Want to connect with the team? Drop a line at contact-lifeloop@energy-cities.eu
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