Enhancing the energy transition in Central Europe with the support of renewable energy communities

HERCULES-CE deals with renewable energy communities (RES) on a strategic and local/regional level. The preconditions and framework conditions for EEGs in the transnational project area are not the same. The implementation of renewable energy communities faces many hurdles and barriers in some countries and regions of the project partnership. A lack of experience, insufficient expertise and a lack of legal foundations make it difficult to establish EEGs there. In Austria, the legal basis for energy communities was created when the Renewable Energy Expansion Act came into force. With more than 1000 renewable energy communities (at the beginning of 2024), Austria plays a pioneering role in transnational project cooperation. For Forschung Burgenland, the core element of the project is therefore not only the transfer of expertise, but also the further development of existing energy communities and the promotion of grid serviceability through the flexibility and controllability of EEGs. The project consortium is working together to establish new EEGs, improve the performance of existing ones and assess the environmental impact and potential for reducing energy poverty. The project objectives are to be achieved by integrating innovative user participation methods and establishing a data-driven tool.

Overview of the fields of action and the expected results:

• Analysis (mapping, benchmarking, SWOT,..) and identification of elements, for the development of a centralised European strategy. Innovative participatory methods and the collection of concrete data to evaluate and improve the performance of existing EEGs are another part of the first activities in the project.
• Pilot actions with 3 focal points:
  1. Improving the performance of existing EEGs by analysing their technical, legal and social aspects as well as business models
  2. Creation of new EEGs with technical and regulatory features that meet the needs of the individual territories involved in the partnership, with possible replicability of the models
  3. Measures to combat energy poverty in the different territories involved.

• Transfer of solutions, action plan and network
  1. Guidelines to improve the performance and sustainability of existing EEGs, taking into account 3 pilot actions, each with a specific guideline as output.
  2. An action plan at Central European level to support authorities and actors involved in the energy sector to create or improve RES with innovative and effective approaches, new business models and participatory methods for stakeholder involvement.
  3. Creation of a transnational cooperation network to exchange know-how and best practice to promote the energy transition with more sustainable business models and to act beyond the project duration.

The HERCULES-CE project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund as part of the Interreg Central Europe programme.