PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Energy communities can help citizens and local authorities to invest in renewables and energy efficiency and local governments are uniquely well-placed to support, participate and invest in these projects, and to provide a positive planning and policy environment to help drive community energy. However, in various countries such as in BE and NL, there is a valid worry that the CEC and REC models will be commercialised, removing the necessity of the participation of the citizens. In Bulgaria the directives for energy communities are not yet transposed. In TANDEMS we argue that established Energy Cooperatives are the right ‘vehicles’ to ensure a just and accelerated transition, including citizens in every step. Starting from the development of an open collaboration model, we will demonstrate how new and closer partnerships between cities/regions and energy cooperatives can lead to a region-wide supporting framework for community energy, one that can be widely replicated in EU regions. The TANDEMS project brings together three European regions from different starting blocks and speeds, different cultural backgrounds and conditions but working towards the same goal: the empowerment and facilitation of citizens to participate in the clean energy transition, an important route towards solving the climate challenge we are all facing: the province of Antwerp in Flanders, Belgium, the region of Achterhoek in provincie Gelderland in the Netherlands and 2 municipalities, Burgas and Gabrovo, in diverse regions in Bulgaria. In TANDEMS key partners will demonstrate the potential of a streamlined collaboration, in tandem and ensure uptake in other regions in Europe. TANDEMS aims to develop a wide variety of replicable models and trainings, demonstrate and trigger 67 community energy projects, support and/or create 23 citizen-led initiatives and trigger RES generation of 10.15 GWh/year with 7.9m€ investments in sustainable energy by the end of the project in 2025.