Project information
Local renewable energy communities in the EU

The overall objective of the project is to investigate, assess and improve the social and economic impacts of citizens’ involvement in renewable energy communities (RECs) as a social innovation booster.
In a growing grassroots movement engaging hundreds of thousands of EU citizens, innovative energy communities have already pioneered the energy transition and have significant potential to help with energy transition development in stagnating countries.
While their overall contribution to protect the climate is obvious, the potential impact of renewable energy communities with regard to social and economic aspects, not only at the local level, remains largely unknown. The project hypothesis is that the degree of citizens’ participation can influence the acceptance of local renewable energy projects as well as their value added, and more in general it can change citizens’ attitudes towards the energy system transition, from activating to produce electricity to choosing the "ethical" as well as renewable, to better manage their consumption.
A clear understanding of the interdependency of social acceptance and economic benefits in the renewable energy sector will allow us to identify socially innovative models that bring about a maximum of community benefits.