SunSharing – Supporting Solar Energy Communities in SEE

Transitioning towards a climate-neutral Europe and promoting an effective transposition of the European Union’s (EU) Renewable Energy Directive as well as the EU Directive on common rules for the internal market for electricity needs to integrate the role of solar photovoltaic-based energy. This does not only speed up the process of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations – thus also accelerating permit-granting procedures for renewable energy projects and facilitating Power Purchase Agreements – but also supports REPowerEU for the rapid reduction of Russian fossil fuel dependence since it promotes local electricity generation increase of energy sustainability. Although solar PV is a commonly used technology in the residential, public, and industrial sector, its full potential in South-Eastern Europe – namely Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, and North Macedonia – has not been achieved due to improper legislation on energy communities and crowdfunding as well as partial and incomplete transposition of the EU directives.

Prof. Ljubomir Majdandžić, Prof. Neven Duić and Dr. Marko Ban opening a prosumer PV power plant in Croatia, Photo: © Prof. Duić

The SunSharing project enables consumers to support the energy transition by forging alliances and crowdfunding community energy projects in the participating countries. The project analysed the current policy situation for implementing energy communities and crowdfunding initiatives, and together with public authorities developed a set of recommendations on how to improve these policies. Furthermore, it maped the best practice examples coming from other EU countries and developed a publicly available database which was presented to local authorities and citizens. Moreover, SunSharing facilitated cross-border knowledge transfer, established networks for consumers, academia and policymakers and raised awareness concerning the benefits of investing in renewable energy. In this regard, the project organised events to facilitate knowledge transfer on legislation and best practices and runs campaigns to set the ground for crowdfunding initiatives. To achieve these goals, SunSharing focused on the respective countries’ citizens as they represent the main driver of energy transition and their impact improves by developing such energy communities and organising crowdfunding initiatives. In the long-term, this contributes significantly to decarbonisation of the power sector reaching renewable energy targets and reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the implementing countries. Consequently, this will also boost the energy security of these countries by reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

• Increased awareness and capacity: Over 450 citizens and nearly 90 key stakeholders across Southeast Europe were informed and trained on solar energy communities and crowdfunding through workshops, guidebooks, and public events.

• Policy recommendations and legislative impact: The project contributed to policy dialogue and supported the development of national legislation in Croatia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Greece, including the publication of tailored policy recommendations.

• Knowledge transfer via best practice databases: Two publicly accessible databases featuring a total of 11 best practice examples (energy communities and crowdfunding) were created and shared through targeted dissemination events.

• Practical tools and local support structures: Hands-on guidebooks on how to start solar energy communities and crowdfunding initiatives were developed in all four countries, supported by 17 letters of intent from local authorities.

• The Forum of Energy Communities, an interest group of over 18 organizations that acts as an informal platform for policy coordination – including with ministries, the regulatory authority (HERA) and energy suppliers (HEP), was co-founded in Croatia.