SCORE is an EU-funded project facilitating consumer ownership of renewable energy through innovative and inclusive financing techniques.
 

2020 has come to a close – an eventful year in every respect. As we are starting with fresh energy into 2021, we would like to cast one last glance backwards and bring you up to date with the recent developments of the SCORE project. We hope you enjoy the read – and we are looking forward to hearing back from you with your comments and questions. Please feel free to contact us any time.

The city of Essen is currently examining various possibilities of implementing an energy sharing concept within a renewable energy community as a pilot project of SCORE. For one of the planned projects, Prof Jens Lowitzsch and his team from European University Viadrina have now developed a specific feasibility study, which they presented to involved stake­holders in the city of Essen at the end of November 2020.
 
The feasibility study investigates the sharing of solar energy from several new photo­voltaic installations between an institution for the disabled (Franz Sales Haus) and a municipal vocational school (Berufskolleg Ost). The presentation took place in the „Hotel Franz“ of the Franz Sales Haus. In addition to representatives of the two above-mentioned institutions, the administration of the city of Essen and the local public utility company were involved. Moreover, a team from the German national TV station ZDF documenting the SCORE project was present. Broadcasting is planned in the context of ZDF’s “Plan-B” in the beginning of 2021.
 
Due to the positive assessment of the profitability of the project as well as its pioneering character, the results of the study, which were previously confirmed by independent analysts, were received with great interest by the Essen-based stake­holders. The concept of the project envisages the participation of both people with disabilities as an under­represented group and school pupils in the energy transition. It can be modularly expanded, e.g. by an inclusion of surrounding housing areas of the municipal housing company with mixed tenant structure. The results were received with enthusiasm and unconditional support by the participants of the presentation.

The Franz Sales Haus is a Catholic institution for the disabled with a central campus comprising 15 buildings used for different purposes in the Essen city area. Around 140 kilowatt peak photovoltaic systems are to be newly installed. On the roof of the municipal vocational school, a new photovoltaic system with 225 kilowatts is planned. Excess solar power will then be shared between those two properties. For example, the Franz Sales Haus will be able to use solar power from the roof of the vocational college when the vocational college itself is only able to use a small amount of solar power at weekends or during school vacations. Together, the two properties easily achieve a self-consumption rate of 100 percent. This makes the project particularly economical under current G­­­­erman legislation.

How can consumers team up and become a prosumer group? How does a cooperative work? What is a CSOP and why is it an innovative solution for consumers? Providing answers to these questions is important both for consumers and advisers involved in advocacy for consumers affected by energy poverty.

The SCORE partner Federacja Konsumentów, a consumer association in Poland, organised an online course on these questions as part of the STEP project (HORIZON 2020). The seminar provided information about CSOP, an operating and investment scheme that is part of the module adapted by the other STEP project countries: Czech Republic, Portugal, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Great Britain and Cyprus.
 

On 6 November 2020, the SCORE partner Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) held an online seminar to discuss with European experts the opportunities for long-term decarbonisation in South East Europe – particularly in Bulgaria – in light of the Green Deal goals and priorities. The South East Europe region has an enormous potential for diverse renewable energy, but its current and future use has stagnated mostly due to the political decisions to support the exploitation of coal, lignite, gas and nuclear power.
 
The seminar discussed the political, economic and social challenges related to the coal phase-out in Bulgaria and the different financing instruments available to support the energy transition, the economic restructuring in the coal regions, and the alternative green projects. In the context of the post-Covid economic recovery process, aligning the policy targets of the European Green Deal with the “Next generation EU” green recovery programme will be crucial.
 
Learn more about the seminar  

Many EU member states are presently facing the challenge of transposing the Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II) and the Internal Market in Electricity Directive (IEMD) into national legislation. In the context of an online seminar on 17 November 2020, several European organisations and projects presented challenges and opportunities of the transposition process with a specific focus on the issue of energy communities.
 
Chaired by MEP Jutta Paulus, the event with the title „Citizen Energy – making it real” was especially intended for national government focal points. The webinar first addressed the national obligations as well as the targets and the monitoring of the RED II and IEMD transposition. Subsequently, five speakers focused on specific issues with regard to energy communities. Kristian Petrick gave an overview of the issues at stake on behalf of the H2020 project PROSEU. Ludwig Karg of EC Bridge introduced relevant classes of energy communities and presented topics and recommendations for the transposition process. Jens Lowitzsch of Viadrina University, representing the SCORE project at the event, looked into possible traps to avoid when transposing, presenting examples from Italy and Austria. Molly Walsh of Friends of the Earth Europe explored the barriers and potentials of the “enabling framework” by looking at the early transposers Greece and Ireland and their approaches. Finally, Dirk Vansintjan of REScoop.eu rounded off the picture by presenting a grassroots perspective on the transposition process.
 
More than 60 legislators from EU-27 countries attended the online event. Due to the big success, the seminar will be repeated in January 2021.
 
The event was jointly organised by EUFORES, EREF, Community Power, SCORE, PROSEU, BRIDGE, REScoop.eu, and the Renewables Networking Platform.
 
Download the presentation from the seminar 

As part of the SCORE project, the Center for the Study of Democracy has developed a policy brief on the mapping of policy options for renewable energy communities, aiming at identifying bottlenecks preventing the co-ownership of renewable energy in Europe.

The paper emphasises the frequent and uneven changes in different national legal frameworks regarding the promotion of RE that remains one of the key challenges for the development of renewable energy communities, creating disparities among Member States. Similarly, there are information gaps on RE technologies and funding schemes among potential investors as well as communities. Access to finance is another major barrier for these communities, both regarding RE upfront costs and complex regulatory frameworks for consumers including low-income households. Moreover, grid regulations generate long administrative and legal procedures, which remain highly centralised, complicating the process and its costs.
 
In order to benefit from the enabling EU framework, the Renewable Energy Directive II and the opportunities from energy prosumership, clearer information for stakeholders, reduction of charges and administrative barriers, and more equal and shared directives among countries are necessary to enable decentralised and citizen-oriented forms of energy transition in Europe. The report will be available on our website as of February.

The SCORE partner Center for the Study of Democracy has been carrying out interviews with German, Czech and Italian experts in the field of renewable energy and energy communities. The aim of these interviews was to benefit from the experts’ experience to identify the best possible conditions for Renewable Energy Communities to develop and spread across Europe.

The analysis of the challenges and bottlenecks in Germany, Czech Republic and Italy reveals the improvements needed in terms of administrative capacity, access to finance as well as inclusive models that enable consumers to act together in order to become co-owners of renewable energy as recommended in the Renewable Energy Directive II. A report will be available on our website as of February 2021.

For the implementation of renewable energy communities it is important to understand how financial participation in renewable energy systems affects end users.

The SCORE project investigated these and other questions with an online survey. The questionnaire was developed and distributed in November 2020 by the SCORE project partners together with the City of Essen. You can view the results in our public deliverable on impacts of consumer co-ownership available on our website as of February 2021.

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.