The quarterly SCORE newsletter informs you about our progress and activities. It is intended as a dialogue with interested parties and stakeholders, as we believe this is what moves the energy transition forward. Therefore, we are looking for­ward to receiving your comments and questions. Please feel free to contact us.

SCORE is a project funded by the European Commission running from April 2018 until December 2021 as part of the Horizon 2020 Programme.
 
The main aim of the project is to facilitate consumers to become (co-)owners of renew­able energy (RE) installations and thus become so-called prosumers through innovative and low-threshold financing schemes.
 
Instead of focusing on groups already participating in the Energy Transition, we are targeting women and households affected by (fuel) poverty – especially the unemployed – who have so far been under-represented in RE-projects.
 
We intend to demonstrate the positive impact of (co-)ownership on consumption be­haviour and energy efficiency.
 
The SCORE consortium consists of 13 partners from 5 European countries. The project is coordinated by European University Viadrina. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 784960.

We are proud to welcome a new project partner into the SCORE consortium: Right in the middle of the urban area of the Ruhr metropolis Essen, the Green Capital Agency (Grüne Hauptstadt Agenur – GHA) is now developing two new pilot projects for the renewable energy supply of urban districts as part of the Horizon 2020-project SCORE.

The developers are planning to use photovoltaic systems and an intelligent energy management system in order to balance and distribute power production and con­sumption. After having joined SCORE as a Follower City, the metropolis with a population of around 580,000 became a full member of the SCORE con­sortium and a pilot location earlier this year.
 
The first potential project, the "Franz-Sales-Haus", combines several buildings on one campus with a power distribution grid of its own. Therefore, the public grid will not be used for the planned renewable energy community. Another special feature is the variety of buildings on the campus: In addition to various administrative and residential buildings, there are, for example, a school for children and young people with mental disabilities, a sports centre, a hotel, a bakery, and a church. This ensures a balanced energy con­sumption profile with a high potential for the self-con­sumption of locally generated green electricity.
 
The second project called “Vogelheim” is a typical residential area. The knowledge gained there on renewable energy supply can thus easily be transferred to similar districts. The buildings in the selected neighborhood include several multi-family houses and a daycare centre. In addition, there are a number of state-subsidized apartments for low-income households. Thus, the project offers a high potential for involving people with low incomes into the CSOP financing model of SCORE.

Are you a representative of a city or municipality? You can now directly profit from our insights from a citizen-lead local energy transition! Become a Follower City and learn first hand about the implemen­tation of our low threshold financing instrument, the consumer stock owner­ship plan, our consumer engage­ment approach and much more.

We offer support and guidance to interested cities on how to promote consumer owner­ship in renewable energy projects.
 
As a follower city, you receive legal assistance from the SCORE consortium in developing a tailor-made CSOP model for your local conditions. Furthermore, you can tap into our experience on how to engage with vulnerable consumers on energy topics.
 
As of now, SCORE is already cooperating with over 20 municipalities in various European countries, including Frossasco (IT), Frankfurt am Main (DE) and Susice (CZ).
 
The focus of our cooperation with these cities and municipalities is manifold and encompasses support in creating renewable energy communities, applying for funding opportunities, collaborations with social housing companies and advice on CSOP scenarios under local specific conditions.
 
Learn more 

In Italy, the Politecnico di Turino has launched a survey in order to collect information on citizens' interest in engaging in local energy initiatives. The aim of the questionnaire is to under­stand which factors favour or hinder citizen participation in energy communities.

Two versions of the questionnaire were created: one in Italian for the SCORE pilot pro­ject in Susa Valley and another one in English. In addition, a storytelling flyer was added to the Italian questionnaire in order to frame the research and its purpose available here.
 
The results of the questionnaire will be used to create policies or incentives to include various citizen interest groups into the SCORE project
 
Take the questionnaire now to support the SCORE project 

The European University Viadrina (EUV) has launched a survey on energy communities and initiatives. The aim of the survey is to find out if energy poverty and the engagement with vulnerable households is part of the activities of energy communities and initiatives – if yes, what activities already exist, and if no, what keeps them from addressing energy poverty and vulnerable house­holds.

The objective of the survey is to collect further good practice but also to identify existing barriers. The results will be used to draft a short policy brief for the European Com­mis­sion as well as a more extensive article on the transposition of the EU Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II). The survey is still running until end of September!
 
Take the survey now and share it with your network! 

Our brand new CSOP online calculator is now online. It is a tool for municipalities, mayors, city planners and private house­holds planning to finance an renewable energy project with a CSOP (Consumer Stock Ownership Plan).

With the CSOP online calculator, you can quickly and easily evaluate the feasibility of CSOP financing for your renewable energy project. All entries are prefilled as far as possible so that the results are available quickly.
 
By adjusting your project indicators, you can inform yourself precisely under which conditions your project is profitable. Real time calculations visualise every change you make to the project configuration and show a direct effect on the economic feasibility.
 
Try the calculator 

Since the Corona crisis, the dissemination activities of the SCORE project have entered the digital realm. Digitally we connect to our community and strive for a more inclusive energy transition in Europe and beyond. The following events were recently organised online. Click on the video links provided to take a closer look.

The webinar consisted of two parts:
 

Moreover, the webinar comprised break-out sessions on the various questions and developments in Follower Cities. Half of the participants were newcomers to the project; the other half was already familiar with SCORE.
 
Watch the recording 

Bulgaria is currently facing the challenge to achieve an effective energy transition within the European goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. It should use the existing opportunities for EU financial support adequately in order to transform its energy sector and put its long-term economic development on a more sustainable footing.
 
This was the main focus of the online seminar on „The European Green Deal in Bulgaria: Policy Solutions“, which the Center for the Study of Democracy, a SCORE partner in Bulgaria, hosted in May 2020.
 
During the event, our partner in Bulgaria, Todor Galev, seized the opportunity and intro­duced the idea behind SCORE and CSOP to high-level policy makers.

The most recent SCORE Consortium Committee Meeting was organised online as well. During the meeting, the consortium discussed recent project challenges caused by the Corona crisis. The consortium also tackled the question of how to help our partners with the difficulties arising from this situation and how national relief measures and economic stimuli can be used for the project implementation.

Would you like to learn more about low threshold CSOP (Consumer Stock Owner­ship Plans) financing and our pilot projects? Take a look at our CSOP-Financing brochure for download on our website.
Download brochure 

The Italian government has announced green economic stimuli measures to overcome the economic consequences of the Corona Crisis. The „ECO bonus“ is steered to encourage green and sustainable investments. These can become an important complementary financing source for RE projects and the SCORE pilots in the Susa Valley.
 
Subject to the „Decreto Rilancio“ with an overall volume of 55 billion euros, the „ECO-Bonus 110%“ encourages citizen investments in RES – with a particular focus on low-income households.
 
Find out more about the ECO bonus and apply for the bonus until December 2021 

The next steps in the SCORE project are kickstarting the new pilot projects in Essen as well as fostering consumer involvement through workshops in our pilots with our focus group. Furthermore, we will continue political awareness raising for the importance of enabling legal framework conditions for consumer participation in the energy transition.

For more information please visit our website.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 784960”.

This newsletter reflects only the authors’ views. The European Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.