Imagine the year 2050. You share cheap solar energy with your neighbours in real time. Smart devices (like heat pumps) turn on by themselves when abundant renewables are available in the grid. At district level, large batteries help balance the grid, and benefits are shared among all members of the local community. A significant part of the revenues of these activities is reinvested in things that matter to your community: the local school, bike infrastructure, parks, and the local health clinic. Importantly, you breathe easy knowing that you have long escaped the fossil fuel roller coaster that caused your bills to skyrocket every six months in the 2020s. 

Too good to be true? Actually, more realistic than you think. This summer, the Energy Transition Expertise Centre of the European Commission (ENTEC) published a thorough study on the potential of citizen energy. The results are outstanding: research confirms that 1 in 3 EU households may be producing their own renewable energy by 2050, contributing to 32% of all renewable electricity production. 

Back to 2050. You sit down at your energy community’s annual general assembly and you remember together how you managed to get here: at first it looked very expensive to put all these solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, electric vehicles, and district heating projects in place. You remember (and shiver at the thought) of how in the 2020s policy makers kept complaining that ‘the energy transition is just too expensive’. This is why hundreds of millions of EU citizens stepped up and took matters into their own hands by pooling their capital for shared projects, assisted by EU grants and guarantees, and ethical and cooperative banks. 635 billion euros: that’s how much money the – now famous – ENTEC study predicted back then that citizen energy projects could mobilise by 2050. You smile knowing that the goal was not only reached, but even exceeded. 

Rescoop westmill drums c Energy4all
Celebration at community-owned Westmill wind farm. © Energy4all

A roadmap towards a citizen energy future

A Europe with strong, fair and sustainable local economies where communities are at the heart of decision making processes is not unachievable. The ENTEC study envisages an energy future that aligns with REScoop.eu’s vision: a society that doesn’t overshoot planetary boundaries, while it strives towards and maintains ambitious social standards. 

ENTEC provides some clear recommendations on how move towards a citizen energy future:

  • Member States should put in place national binding targets for energy communities. This request was also echoed by a recent report of the European Court of Auditors. The European Commission should guide Member States towards this direction as part of the post-2030 revision of the Renewable Energy Directive and the Governance Regulation. To make such targets politically palatable, the Commission could structure them around urgent priorities such as “total capital mobilised by citizens towards the energy transition”, or “total economic savings incurred by self-consumption and energy efficiency projects”. 
  • Member States should provide structural funding to energy communities. As we enter the 2028-2034 EU budget period, Member States are drafting their National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs). The Commission should work with Member States to include supportive reforms and investments for energy communities into their NRPPs. 
  • Member States should unlock the flexibility potential of energy communities and help them to access the grid. The ENTEC study rightly identifies the potential impact of simplifying grid connection procedures or reserving grid capacity for small renewable projects. It also insists that reliable, transparent data and removal of administrative barriers are needed for energy communities’ access to flexibility markets. With the appropriate price signals, energy communities can produce and self-consume energy locally, alleviating pressure from the grid. This is why in the upcoming revision of Article 18 of the Electricity Market Regulation, Member States should uphold the proposal of the Commission to reduce network charges for energy communities that adopt such grid-friendly behaviours. 

Energy that strengthens democracy

In 2050, you look up at your local school’s rooftop, where 15 years ago, together with 50 other families, you made a joint investment to install solar panels. You are happy about the energy and carbon savings, but most importantly about the sense of pride, community and belonging that this created in the local community. People started taking part more often in general assemblies, school committees, and other spaces of co-deliberation. Again, the phantom of eroding democracy that you experienced in the late 2020s feels far away.