European Energy Communities Facility Grant Programme

The European Energy Communities Facility (ENERCOM Facility or the Facility) is funded by the European Union under the LIFE programme.

Objectives

• The ENERCOM Facility aims to empower at least 140 energy communities in Europe by providing lump sum grants and targeted capacity-building support. The objective is to enable these communities to create robust business plans that improve the communities’ long-term sustainability and enhance their ability to attract external financing.

Funding Information

• Each selected energy community will receive a lump-sum grant of €45.000 to support the development of their business plan.
• The ENERCOM Facility provides various benefits to energy communities in the EU, including but not limited to financial and capacity-building support.

Expected Output

• Selected applicants are expected to develop a comprehensive business plan for their energy community initiative. This business plan should be implemented in the months following its validation.
• In addition, beneficiaries of the ENERCOM Facility are expected to actively participate in the capacity-building programme offered by the Facility, including the completion of the required modules.
• To ensure accountability and track progress, beneficiaries will be required to complete monitoring and impact measurement questionnaires after the submission of the business plan

Eligible Activities

• The grant provided under the Facility is intended to support all necessary activities for the development and implementation of a business plan for energy community initiatives. Eligible activities include, but are not limited to:
  • Technical and financial assessments of the initiative
  • Pre-development tasks such as feasibility studies
  • Legal and administrative procedures, including obtaining permits and finalizing legal agreements
  • Any preparatory work necessary to structure a sound, viable, and bankable business plan.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for support under the ENERCOM Facility, applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
  • Be a legal entity: the applicant must be a legally established community within its country of operation, possessing a distinct legal personality separate from its individual members (e.g. cooperative, SME, foundation, etc)
  • Operate in an eligible country: applicants must be based in one of the countries eligible under the LIFE Programme, including all EU-27 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden), Iceland, Ukraine, Moldova, and North Macedonia.
  • Comply with the EU definition of an Energy Community: applicants must align with the following elements of the EU definition:
    • The community’s activities must correspond to those that qualify as Energy Community activities under EU definitions.
    • The membership structure must be consistent with the membership criteria outlined in EU definitions of Energy Communities.
    • Participation must be open and voluntary, in line with EU standards.
    • The governance model must reflect the governance principles defined in EU Energy Community regulations
    • The primary purpose of the Energy Community must be aligned with the purpose rules that, according to European definitions, qualify an initiative as an Energy Community.
  • Commit to monitoring and impact reporting: applicants must agree to complete the monitoring and impact measurement questionnaires.

For more information, visit European Energy Communities Facility.