On Friday 23th of November 2018, REScoop.eu participated in the yearly event of ‘HIER opgewekt’, a major knowledge platform for citizen energy communities in the Netherlands, co-founded by REScoop board member ODE decentraal. HIER opgewekt literally translated as ‘locally produced’ collects information, examples and best practices in the field of community energy in the Netherlands. And so did the event.

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘making an impact’. In the Netherlands, a lot of significant steps have already been taken to accelerate sustainable energy. The preliminary Climate Agreement fully acknowledges energy cooperatives and citizen energy communities, including a community energy target. The ambition is clear: 50 percent of all new wind and solar projects should be owned by a local community. The question, however, is how we are going to achieve this ambition? How do we, all together, ensure more sustainable energy and how do we take further steps in changing the heating system? Our Dutch board member, Siward Zomer, was interviewed and applauded for all his work and efforts in achieving this in the negotiations.

By bringing together community energy initiatives from the Netherlands, HIERopgewekt facilitates crucial knowledge sharing and creates an informal platform where community energy players can get connected and inspired.

REScoop.eu was delighted to be part of the conference and to see so many enthusiasm for community energy in the Netherlands. This Dutch case can be seen as a great and inspiring example of how we can make an impact and how we can encourage everyone to become a member of a renewable energy cooperative or to start a sustainable energy project.