REScoop.eu

The REDII: strengthening the role of RECs to support increased ambition on renewable energy With its recent proposed revisions to the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), the European Commission (Commission) has recognized the need to increase ambition on renewable energy production in order to meet 2030 and 2050 climate objectives. To meet these objectives, more action is required in all segments of society.

Opening of the attached position paper · the full paper is on the Commission’s record (source link above)

European Union (EU) regulation should allow municipalities to untap local potential to enable Europes energy transition. The ongoing review of the Public Procurement Directives should be utilised as an opportunity to simplify the existing rules and allow fairer access to local businesses and communities. Local public-public/citizen partnerships are a good way to pool resources.

REScoop.eu - the European Federation of Citizen Energy Communities - welcomes the opportunity to respond to the EBPD Revision Roadmap and Inception Impact Assessment on behalf of over 1500 energy communities and 1 million citizens in Europe.

The EU is currently facing an annual shortfall of 400 billion euro in climate investments. We cannot afford to sideline local communities from contributing to the climate effort. In fact, prosumers (individually or as communities) could provide up to 60% of the EU's electricity demand by 2050, based on a 2022 report by the European Environment Agency.

The EED: supporting energy communities to deliver energy savings With its recent proposal for a recast Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), the European Commission (Commission) has recognized the need to increase ambition on energy savings in order to meet 2030 and 2050 climate objectives. To meet these objectives more action is required in all segments of society.

Opening of the attached position paper · the full paper is on the Commission’s record (source link above)

REScoop.eu believes that the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive should preserve and strengthen the existing framework for Renewable Energy Communities (RECs). The EU does not need a new definition of RECs; it needs to fully implement the one it already has and ensure that the rights attached to it are effective in practice.

Introduction Electricity grids, recently referred to in a European Parliament report as “the backbone of the EU energy system”1 are a crucial resource for enabling the renewable energy transition away from fossil fuels. Energy communities, as market actors, rely on the grid for their activities, but can also provide benefits to the grid via increased local consumption and flexible demand response.

Opening of the attached position paper · the full paper is on the Commission’s record (source link above)

Energy communities are legal entities that empower citizens to take ownership of their local transition projects, from solar panel and wind installations to Citizen-led Renovations, or shared renewable thermal energy, known as Community-led Heating and Cooling (CH&C).

Article 22 of the RED II requires Member States to create an enabling framework to promote the development of RECs. These enabling frameworks must include policies and measures to remove unjustified regulatory and administrative barriers, while also measures that provide fair, proportionate, and transparent registration and licensing procedures for renewable projects of RECs, among other things.

Securing locally-produced renewables through enabling renewable energy communities is key to reaching an affordable, clean energy supply. From offshore wind, to large-scale district heating projects, energy communities, which bring together citizens, small and medium enterprises, and local authorities, are already demonstrating that local communities can take an active role in driving the EUs decarbonisation and…