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Sowing the seeds of a citizen energy revolution - Building a cluster of energy communities in Greece
Blog post by Chris Vrettos – Electra Energy (REScoop.eu member).
In the context of the European Citizen Energy Academy (EUCENA), Electra Energy - with the support of the EUCENA partners – established the first national cluster of energy communities in Greece. The initiative was launched in December 2020 with a public online event that attracted more than 380 participants and representatives of energy communities from all over Greece, and continued with a series of online meetings throughout 2021. The first meetings were mainly an exploratory process, with energy communities from across Greece and other supporting organisations starting to work out what the exact characteristics, goals, and structure of the cluster should be.
From the outset of discussions, most energy communities identified the need for a collective body that would facilitate capacity building, information sharing and resources to accelerate development and replication and contribute to the overall empowerment of energy communities in the country.
At the same time, all energy communities unanimously requested that the cluster would be used -amongst other things- as a tool for advocacy. With a sweeping law to be voted on in December 2020 that would pit energy communities against large renewable energy developers through tendering procedures, the cluster was already facing its first milestone: formulating a coherent set of counter-proposals and alternatives on how the current Greek law on energy communities (4513/2018) could ensure healthy competition in energy markets, while remaining conducive to community energy development in the country. The final letter published in February 2021, co-authored by Electra Energy, Greenpeace (GR), WWF (GR), and REScoop.eu, and reviewed by all members of the cluster, received wide media coverage and triggered a series of meetings and discussions with policy makers and decision makers. The revised law on energy communities has yet to be publicised, but in all subsequent communiqués and official policy texts of the Greek government where energy communities were mentioned (e.g., regional just transition programmes), energy communities were mentioned as key players in the country’s energy transition. The letter was therefore widely seen by members of the cluster as an early ‘success story’.
Building on the optimistic sentiment, subsequent meetings of the cluster have focused on working out the details of the cluster: its strategic priorities, governance structure, funding sources, etc. The last meeting took place in Athens in December 2021, in person, with representatives of more than 25 energy communities and supporting organisations. The meeting was characterised by intense brainstorming on the development of common projects (e.g., the development of a large solar park co-owned by energy communities), ideas for future advocacy, mutual knowledge and capacity transfer, and general updates on the state of community energy in the country. A series of workshops is now planned for the first quarter of 2022 to continue to attract new members and consolidate the base of the cluster.
With rapid developments in the Greek and EU energy sector, namely the rapidly rising energy prices, and announcements of fossil fuel projects being halted or cancelled in Greece, it is imperative that the Greek community energy cluster forms a coherent counter narrative of what a just, inclusive and truly democratic energy system could look like. Persistent challenges remain, but through a coordinated response and by securing additional economic support, the cluster can develop into an outstanding national or even regional player, safeguarding the rights of citizens, municipalities and SMEs to take energy into their own hands.
About EUCENA
EUCENA supports the citizen energy movement throughout Europe by fostering knowledge creation and transfer between Southeast and Central Europe. Specifically, it provides knowledge and tools on community building, development, and cooperation between communities. EUCENA is supported by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
Athens community meeting also features COMPILE workshop
Another community energy workshop was organised within the context of the Athens Community conference. During this COMPILE workshop, participants tested and explored the Maturity Scale, a dashboard dedicated to supporting community leaders in developing a citizen-led energy community. This tool has been developed by REScoop.eu and Joanneum Research.
