REScoop.eu 10 year anniversary
The first steps
Collaboration between Ecopower and Enercoop
The French renewable energy supplier Enercoop needed a bank guarantee to be able to buy a package of green electricity from the state monopolist EDF. Contacts with other European REScoops were established with the help of Cooperatives Europe and the green fraction of the European parliament. This resulted in a first cross border cooperation between two REScoops: Ecopower (Belgium) and Enercoop (France): the bank guarantee was created.
First meeting between European Cooperatives
For the first time, a small group of European renewable energy cooperatives gather in an event at the European parliament, hosted by the Green fraction.
Unofficial establishment of REScoop.eu
Another meeting between European cooperatives takes place in Brussels, at the premises of Greenpeace Belgium. At this event, representatives from several European cooperatives, including Ecopower from Belgium, De Windvogel from the Netherlands, Enercoop from France, and Som Energia from Spain, agreed to collaborate and join forces in the future.
Press release
Start of the REScoop 20-20-20 project
The newly founded REScoop.eu federation achieves its first major success by winning a project call called REScoop 20-20-20, which was supported by the European Commission's Intelligent Energy Europe Program. The project brings together 12 organizations from seven countries (Belgium, Denmark, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands) to collaborate on the development of new citizen-led renewable energy projects throughout Europe.
REScoop.eu
Official foundation REScoop.eu
Ecopower (Belgium), De Windvogel (Netherlands), Enercoop (France), and Som Energia (Spain) officially found REScoop.eu. On August 26, 2013, the General Assembly approved the legal statutes of REScoop.eu, which were later published in the official Belgian State Journal on December 24, 2013.
REScoop.eu's first statutes
Memorandum European elections
In anticipation of the 2014 European Parliament elections, REScoop.eu publishes a manifesto advocating for a cooperative and decentralised approach to the energy transition. During the corresponding campaign, REScoop.eu successfully recruits many parliamentary candidates to become 'Cooperative supporters'. This effort is recognized as one of the first significant advocacy initiatives undertaken by the federation.
REScoop.eu manifesto
REScoop.eu: radical innovator of the year
REScoop.eu wins the public vote of the Belgian 'Radical Innovators' contest, marking an important milestone in gaining greater public visibility.
COP 21
In partnership with its French member Enercoop, REScoop.eu organises a successful side-event titled "Citizen Involvement in Climate Change Challenges" at the Climate Conference in Paris. The event features a keynote speech from Ségolène Royal, the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development, and Energy.
REScoop 202020 project comes to an end
Upon completion of the REScoop 202020 project, REScoop.eu releases its first 'blue' booklet titled 'The Energy Transition to Energy Democracy,' as well as a video of the same title.
The energy transition to energy democracy
Commission publishes Energy Winter Package
The European Commission launches with the publication of the so called ‘Winter Package’ the revision of the energy directives, putting the citizens in the centre of the energy transition. An image of the cooperatively owned off-shore wind turbines near the harbour of Copenhagen is used in all the presentations and publications of the Commission
CE Delft study
In 2016, REScoop.eu co-funds a study by CE Delft about the potential of citizen energy in the European Union. This turned out to be substantial. Half of all European Union citizens could be producing their own electricity by 2050, meeting 45% of the EU’s energy demand, about 37% of which could come through involvement in a renewable energy cooperative (REScoop).
Huge potential for energy cooperatives
MECISE event in Eupen
To endorse the further engagement of local actors, REScoop.eu organises an interregional conference in Eupen, at the border of 5 European regions: Euregio Meuse-Rhine. The event takes place in the context of the MECISE project - Mobilising European citizens to invest in sustainable energy.
MECISE website
Foundation of two new European Cooperatives
As a result of intensive collaboration with members around the topic of mobility at one hand and the topic of financing at the other, REScoop.eu officially founds two new European Cooperative Societies. REScoop MECISE aims to support small community energy projects by helping them access financing tools typically reserved for larger projects. The second cooperative, The Mobility Factory, is a network for sustainable mobility that enables REScoops to become co-owners of a shared IT platform for e-carsharing.
The Mobility Factory
Adoption clean energy package
The EU comes to an agreement over the revision of a number of energy directives. The agreement on this new energy rulebook – now called the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package – marks a significant step towards implementing the Energy Union Strategy, published in 2015, and the Winter package published in 2016. When transposed and implemented in all EU Member States it offers, for example, the existing energy cooperatives not one, but 2 definitions and prescribes that every member state must have an enabling framework for emerging ones.
Press release REScoop.eu
Revision of the REScoop.eu Charter
During the Annual General Meeting of REScoop.eu in Zagreb, members agree upon the revised REScoop.eu Charter. The Charter, that includes the definition, the values and the principles of the International Cooperative Alliance, shows what we, citizen energy cooperatives have in common.
The REScoop.eu charter
New visual identity
REScoop.eu launches a new visual identity featuring a new logo and a new website. The new logo, in line with the brand REScoop.eu has built over the past years, represents another step towards professionalising the federation.
A fresh wind blowing in REScoop.eu
REScoop.eu gets new offices
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, REScoop.eu relocates to a larger office in Brussels, Mundo Madou to accommodate its expanding team.
Premiere 'We the Power'
During the online AGM, REScoop.eu launches the ‘We the Power’ - a film resulting from an intensive partnership with Patagonia. 'We The Power' spotlights the growing community energy movement across Europe. It aims to demonstrate the advantages to people and the planet that the clean energy transformation could bring. The 30-minute video features the stories of community energy pioneers from all over Europe.
First service
REScoop.eu finally gets back in the field after more than 1,5 years of being confined to our homes – and for an exciting mission: Training 26 Local Action Group leaders in the Czech Republic on the topic of community energy! Our first service contract.
REScoop.eu services
Launch of the Community Energy Platform
REScoop.eu launches the Community Energy Platform to bring community energy resources and tools together in one single place. This new website aims to provide citizens with all support they need to move forward with their energy community projects
The Community Energy Platform
1st Summer School in Thessaloniki
REScoop.eu organises its first Summer School as part of the EUCENA project. This three-day event brings together experts, pioneers and interested citizens to foster networking and cross-border exchange of ideas, tools, knowledge, and good practices. The aim of the Summer School is to strengthen the citizen energy movement in the Balkan region.
Citizen energy Summer School
Member number 100
REScoop.eu reaches a milestone by having 100 members in its network. These members include renewable energy cooperatives, national federations of energy cooperatives and community energy groups that share the vision of a sustainable and democratic energy system in Europe. All together, the REScoop.eu network represents over one million citizens that drive the energy transition towards a cleaner and more democratic future.
Our members
Community energy guide in 11 languages
Community energy is key to action on the climate crisis, boosting local economies, and reinvigorating communities. But how to make it happen? In 2020 a handbook (in English) from Friends of the Earth, REScoop.eu, Energy Cities was published to walk people through it, step by step. In 2023, the 9th and 10th translation is out in Croatian and Hungarian.
Community Energy Guide
Community energy Spring Gathering & AGM in Athens
REScoop.eu hosts the second community energy school in Greece, along with its first in-person General Assembly since 2019. The event has seen an overwhelming response from the community, with over 300 applications received in less than two weeks. Around 150 participants from the Balkans and Eastern Europe attend the school in Athens, showcasing the strong interest and determination of people in the region to drive the movement for energy democracy.
Community Energy Spring Gathering
10 years of REScoop.eu
