During the AgroRES exchange of experiences, AGENEX learnt that many of the participating countries (United Kingdom, Ireland, and Finland) are implementing renewable energy communities through cooperation of the public and private sector.
Thanks to the examples of good practices and to the findings of the regional self-assessment process, AGENEX detected that the implementation of renewable energy communities was highly feasible in a rural and unpopulated area, in which the joint collaboration between the public sector and the citizens could create synergies that will facilitate a significant reduction of fossil fuels used in rural areas.
So, Extremadura action plan was focused on the implementation of new energy communities, with shared ownership of renewable energy installations, with the collaboration of public entities and citizen participation. In order to promote the establishment of energy communities, technical and financial assessment services were needed in the region, and this has been the main objective of AgroRES project in the region.
To this end, in the one-stop-shop (SICAREx) that has recently been established to advise citizens on energy efficiency and renewable energies, thanks to the AgroRES Project, a specific section has been created that is encompassing all grants and financing mechanisms that seek to promote the creation of new energy communities.
The development of this tool is promoting renewable energy communities, which will encourage the use of renewable energies in the rural sector of Extremadura. In addition, AGENEX will be able to monitor the progress and development of these new communities.
In collaboration with the LOCALCIR project, several workshops were organized for local authorities to promote the implementation of Energy Communities in rural areas in Extremadura.
Having identified this need to boost local energy communities in rural areas, AGENEX has promoted the development of the ShareRES proposal, Sharing renewable energy through energy communities, to continue improving policies related to the development of RECs.
The project was presented in the first call of the Interreg Europe 2021-2027 program, and has been approved, recently started in March.
The main objective of ShareRES is to improve the policies that enable an active participation of citizen communities in the energy market by generating, consuming, sharing and selling electricity; as well as providing flexibility to the grid through demand-response and storage.
These improvements will achieve a democratic, sustainable, and inclusive energy system, in which energy communities will be key for the energy transition.
