ESPA 2021-2027 (Hellenic Regional Development Corporate Agreement): the window of opportunity to support energy communities is closing

Jan 20, 2025

(See full letter on file here)

ESPA 2021-2027: the window of opportunity to support energy communities is closing 

Honorable/s,
With this letter the Energy Communities Bundle (hereinafter ‘Bundle’) and the European Federation of Energy Communities (REScoop.eu) wish to highlight the issue of public funding for energy communities in Greece. In particular, while we are halfway through the current ESPA (Hellenic Regional Development Corporate Agreement) programming period (2021-2027), resources to support energy communities have not yet been activated.

It is noted that resources are provided for the energy communities in 2 national operational programs (Environment and Climate Change, Just Transition), and 4 regional operational programs (Epirus, Ionian Islands, Western Greece, Peloponnese)2. It is also worth noting that Greece is one of the only 4 countries3 at EU level that registers the common index RCO 97 (Renewable Energy Communities Supported).

The times call for the leveraging of public resources to support energy communities. The recent transition from Virtual Net Metering to Virtual Net Billing has caused insecurity and financial uncertainty in the wider community energy sector, as the financial returns and payback period of a self-consumption project are no longer clear . Additionally, the shift to synchronization encourages the use of batteries, a technology that remains expensive for the average consumer.

Desmi’s experience from the field shows that various community projects have been delayed or completely frozen., as citizens, small and medium enterprises and municipalities have been discouraged from implementing new investments in collective self-consumption projects.

In the context of this generalized uncertainty, we consider it appropriate to activate the resources provided by the ESPA in order to support collective self-consumption projects by energy communities. Public support at least for the storage part could significantly reduce the risk of investment in such projects by energy communities.

Additionally, the mid term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 gives greater flexibility to managing authorities to modify their operational programmes. REScoop.eu’s experience shows that there is interest from other Member States, such as Slovenia, France, and Poland, to use the mid-term review process to support energy communities. Such an approach is actively supported by the Directorate-General for Regional Policy and Urban Development (DG REGIO).

Finally, it is worth noting that there are many successful examples of Member States that have leveraged resources from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)4 with the aim of supporting energy communities. For example, we mention:

  • Regions in Italy (eg, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna) provide grants to energy communities for the preparation of techno-economic studies and business plans. They also cover, through grants, part of the total cost of building renewable energy parks and storage systems.
  • In France at least 2 Regions (Centre – Val de Loire & Grand-Est) use resources from the ERDF to finance community energy networks, which provide advisory support to groups of citizens to establish energy communities.
  • 10 of Spain’s 19 PEPs they provide for the financing of energy communities through grants, but also loans and guarantees.

In accordance with the European Directives, but also the best practices of other Member States, we call on the managing authorities of the ESPA 2021-2027 in Greece to immediately activate calls for support for the energy communities. Such a move will significantly boost the energy democracy movement, contributing to the fight against the climate crisis and energy poverty.

We remain at your disposal for any comment or question.

For the Board of Directors of the DESMI – Greek Energy Communities’ Coalition,
Sandy Familiari, Group Secretary

For REScoop.eu, Christos Vrettos, Head of Public Funding

The Greek Energy Communities’ Coalition was founded in 2024 and is a pan-Hellenic representative body of open type and broad base of energy communities whose main purpose is the promotion of energy democracy. Open-ended and broad-based energy communities that represent more than 3,500 beneficiaries, as well as supporting bodies (Academic institutions, environmental organizations and civil society bodies) participate in Desmi.

 REScoop.eu consists of >2000 members across Europe, representing over 2,000,000 European citizens. It functions as a pan-European body representing the energy communities.