Europe’s energy transition has achieved a lot. The high share of domestic renewables in our energy mix buffered the fossil gas price crisis. During the last decade, solar power became the cheapest source of electricity, accessible at basically all citizens’ homes. So, if your bill goes through the roof, just put solar panels on the rooftop? Yes, but if things were so easy, the Green European Foundation (GEF) and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union would not have worked with a knowledge community of 30 energy geeks and social policy nerds during the past year on how to let citizens benefit better from the energy transition
Europe’s energy transition has achieved a lot. The high share of domestic renewables in our energy mix buffered the fossil gas price crisis. During the last decade, solar power became the cheapest source of electricity, accessible at basically all citizens’ homes. So, if your bill goes through the roof, just put solar panels on the rooftop? Yes, but if things were so easy, the Green European Foundation (GEF) and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union would not have worked with a knowledge community of 30 energy geeks and social policy nerds during the past year on how to let citizens benefit better from the energy transition.
More than 100 experts gathered in November to discuss key recommendations from this knowledge community, focussing on upcoming EU initiatives such as:
- the Citizens Energy Package,
- the Affordable Housing Plan
- the EU Grids Package
While the local economic benefits of renewables and energy savings measures are very well documented, and while self-consumption and local communities engage millions of Europeans in the energy transition, many citizens do not trust energy markets, as Anne Katherina Weidenbach (member of the cabinet of Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen) stressed. Energy communities and energy sharing are the way to let citizens get control of their energy supply and their bill. These models allow citizens to save money without installing and owning renewable energy technologies, thus potentially also combatting energy poverty.
Bruno Tobback, Member of the European Parliament (Socialists and Democrats, Belgium), encouraged the audience to be bold in promoting the many benefits: ‘When people don’t feel they are part of the story, they turn against the story. […] We have not explained enough to people that the energy transition is on their side!’
The local value created should stay within the community
Key tools to tap into the local potential of renewables are benefit sharing models such as co-ownership of wind turbines, rebates on electricity delivered from renewables installations to local residents and direct payments to local authorities, along with indirect effects such as employment and tax income. Etienne Charbit, from the French Réseau cler, recommended introducing in the Citizens Energy Package a mandate for national governments to systematically implement benefit sharing schemes for new renewable energy projects.
According to MEP Michael Bloss (Greens/EFA, Germany), provisions on benefit sharing in Germany already generate on average €35,000 of annual local payments per wind turbine. Communities can use this revenue for real engagement. He suggested creating a new ‘gold standard’ for benefit sharing in the Citizens Energy Package. If benefit sharing is offered in hostile local environments, this can be a game changer for acceptance of the energy transition, as experienced by Barbara Nicoloso, Director of the French association Virage Énergie, when developing renewable energy projects in French municipalities.
A fair allocation of increasing network costs is possible
However, when it comes to the challenges of Europe’s energy networks, there is a risk that the savings from affordable renewables could be jeopardised by a strong increase of infrastructure costs for upgrading and expanding the grids. Carmen Gimeno, Secretary General of the European grid operators federation GEODE, agreed with the recommendations of the knowledge community for sending price signals through more dynamic network tariffs. Citizens and businesses could be rewarded by interacting in a more flexible way with the grid, for example by ramping up their consumption when there is an oversupply of solar power during very sunny days.
But this can only play out in a fair way if EU legislation and EU funds help bridging the financial gaps to households getting renewable and flexible technologies such as heat pumps. The EU Grids Package, in addition, should clarify special tariff regimes to make demand side flexibility financially more attractive and protect vulnerable households – which are still not defined consistently across EU Member States.
Strong local authorities to accompany those who cannot invest in renovation
Addressing the target groups most in need is also a huge challenge in the buildings sector, as Ada Ámon, CEO of the Budapest Climate Agency, illustrated with examples from their local outreach programmes for energy poor families (who do not necessarily want to be stigmatised as poor). Building renovation clearly pays off in the long term and shields citizens against energy poverty. Access to capital is the biggest hurdle in that regard. Mariangiola Fabbri, member of the European Commission’s Affordable Housing Task Force, was clear about the aim of building more, faster and better, while using not only the existing stock but also commercial buildings for housing. Derisking and mobilising private capital will remain the challenge for the upcoming EU initiatives such as the Affordable Housing Plan.
And in the end, somebody needs to go to the homeowners and convince them, as Emily Bankert from the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) noted. The EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework should guarantee stable financial support to local authorities so that they can function as an effective local energy transition hub.
