Citizens are powering Europe’s energy transition: here’s the proof

Op-ed by Sara Tachelet, coordinator at REScoop.eu & coordinator of the ACCE project

As Europe faces an annual 400 billion euro shortfall in climate and energy investments, it’s clear that we cannot afford to leave any stakeholder behind. In the debate on Europe’s energy transition, citizens are often portrayed as participants or beneficiaries. The Access to Capital for Community Energy (in short ACCE) project shows something much stronger: citizens are investors, enablers, and accelerators of the clean energy transformation.

Over the past three years, the ACCE team worked across six European countries to unlock one of the most underused resources in the energy transition - citizen capital. The result: €1 billion in triggered investments and a wave of community-led financing models supporting Europe's citizen energy movement.

Community Energy Financing Schemes (CEFS) - the heart of the ACCE project - are collective, citizen-led mechanisms that channel local savings into renewable energy, heating, and efficiency projects. They are designed to maximise social and environmental impact, not just financial return. And they work.

In Croatia, a collective purchasing programme for solar panels helped 309 households access grants and install rooftop PV systems at scale. In Spain, Goiener partnered with ethical banks Coop57 and Fiare Banca Etica, mobilising over €1,17 million for local energy communities. In the Netherlands, the cooperative federation Energie Samen launched a €25 million development fund for citizen-led district heating. And in France, Energie Partagée financed over 15 heating projects with €3.58 million in community capital: a model now poised for replication.

These pilots show that CEFS can pool projects, de-risk investments, and make renewable energy accessible to ordinary citizens. Every euro invested in a CEFS can crowd in 40 to 60 euros of additional private capital, multiplying the impact of each contribution. By aggregating local projects, standardising processes and building trust, CEFS are evolving from niche experiments into a coherent market player - a networked, democratic financing model that supports and scales energy communities across the continent.

When we launched ACCE in late 2022, we knew the potential was clear, but the scale of results exceeded our expectations. By October 2025, €1 billion had been mobilised or triggered through community-led financing efforts supported by the project. That figure represents more than money. It stands for thousands of citizens pooling their resources, hundreds of municipalities cooperating with local communities, and dozens of ethical financiers opening new pathways for small-scale, socially rooted energy investments.

Their potential to scale stems from the fact that CEFS speak both the language of citizens, and financiers. They instill social trust, as they involve door-to-door, peer-to-peer approaches, led by members of the local community. At the same time, CEFS are led by people with financial and technical expertise, they can pool projects, standardise paperwork, and create an attractive and safe portfolio effect for financiers.

Perhaps the most exciting outcome of ACCE is how quickly the model is spreading. Inspired by the project’s success, new CEFS are being developed in Ireland (focused on building renovations) and Italy. The momentum is real and growing.

This replication shows that CEFS are adaptable: they can work in different regulatory contexts, technologies, and scales — from cooperative wind projects to solar rooftops and district heating. With minimal public support and the right policy frameworks, CEFS can unlock billions in local capital across Europe.

The conditions for scale: policy, partnership, and capacity

ACCE also highlighted remaining barriers: fragmented regulation, administrative hurdles, and limited institutional understanding. These can be addressed through cooperation. We offer three key messages for policymakers and financiers:

1. Support secondary structures. National federations and community energy networks are the backbone of this movement. They provide expertise, standardisation, and trust. Structural funding for these federations should become the norm — as seen in Belgium (Wallonia) and France.
2. Blend public and private capital. Public funds can act as first movers or first-loss investors, reducing risk for ethical and commercial banks. This model has worked in Spain and the Netherlands and should be scaled across Europe.
3. Invest in capacity-building. One-stop shops and technical assistance are essential. Financial literacy and project design support help communities go from ideas to bankable projects.

If these conditions are in place, CEFS could mobilise billions of euros in citizen capital — creating thousands of local projects, strengthening Europe’s energy security, and ensuring that the benefits of the transition remain in local hands.

Private financiers, ethical banks, and impact investors now have a unique opportunity to partner with the community energy movement. CEFS provide a tested, replicable pathway to invest in clean, distributed, and democratically governed projects. For every euro invested, the social, environmental, and reputational returns are high. Capital generated from energy communities stays local: a 2014 study from the Occitanie Region showed that for each euro of public subsidy invested, €50 of economic benefits are generated for the territory. Therefore, especially local banks can leverage CEFS as a tool for territorial development. 

The ACCE project may be ending, but its mission continues. REScoop.eu, through its public finance working group, facilitates an intermediary service that helps energy communities access public finance and connects private financiers with energy communities - illustrated by a partnership between REScoop.eu and FEBEA (the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks and Financiers). Coordinated by REScoop.eu, the Energy Communities Facility supports communities across Europe by providing up to €45,000 in seed funding and capacity-building to help projects become financially sustainable and built for long-term success. Finally, REScoop MECISE, a pan-European cross-border CEFS, is designed to address structural financing gaps that cannot be resolved immediately at national level -  particularly in Eastern and Southern Europe, where interest is high but financing tools are scarce.

One lesson stands out: the energy transition is faster, fairer, and more resilient when citizens are in charge. The success of ACCE proves community finance is not a side story: it’s the foundation of a new European energy model.