European Commission awarded the first Prize for Governance Innovations in Energy Communities. The prize recognises renewable and citizen energy communities that stand out for how they make decisions, share benefits and work with local authorities and businesses. Ten communities from six countries share a total of €1 million.
The winning communities received their prizes at the European Research and Innovation Days in Brussels, after each of the ten finalists had pitched its governance model to the audience.
The winners show how energy communities can open their doors to everyone. Their members range from tenants and homeowners to small businesses, schools, social organisations and municipalities. Several have found ways to include people who could otherwise not take part. They also make sure every voice counts, with one member, one vote in their general assemblies and leadership roles open to women and young members.
This year’s winners are:
Manza Energía (Spain)
€350 000
Launched in 2022 by the municipality of Manzanares el Real, near Madrid, and now run by a residents’ association, Manza Energía shares the output of a 100 kWp solar plant on the municipal sports hall between the sports centre, the public school and local families, giving priority to energy-vulnerable households.
Robin Powerhood (Austria)
€200 000
Austria’s first eco-social energy community. Its more than 140 members donate their surplus solar electricity to households in energy poverty, who are identified together with social organisations such as Caritas St. Pölten.
Viver Telheiras (Portugal)
€100 000
The Telheiras/Lumiar renewable energy community in Lisbon, set up in 2021, is run by the non-profit association Viver Telheiras, which coordinates a network of local NGOs, together with the Lumiar parish council.
Ketelhuis WG (Netherlands)
€50 000
Founded in 2018 by residents of the former Wilhelmina Gasthuis site in Amsterdam, this cooperative is building its own neighbourhood heat network using heat from a nearby canal, so that more than 1 000 homes and businesses can stop using natural gas. The cooperative will own the whole energy system.
CERCA (Spain)
€50 000
A cooperative renewable energy community covering the county of Calatayud in Aragon, designed through participatory processes. It has put 14 shared solar installations into service, supplying 145 connection points, all of them members.
brupower (Belgium)
€50 000
A citizen energy community covering the whole Brussels-Capital Region, with more than 300 cooperative members. brupower shares locally produced solar energy with partners such as a day centre for homeless people and the municipality of Saint-Gilles, which opens its surplus energy to local families and shopkeepers.
Manresa Il·lumina (Spain)
€50 000
Spain’s first industrial renewable energy community, set up in 2022 as a non-profit cooperative by companies of the Bufalvent industrial estate, with the local business association and the city of Manresa as collaborating members. Its member companies share around 1 MWp of solar power.
ECoOB (Belgium)
€50 000
A citizens’ energy cooperative founded in 2018 in Herent, near Leuven, with several hundred shareholders. It finances and manages rooftop solar installations and works with the city of Leuven to put panels on its largest roofs.
Minoa Energeiaki (Greece)
€50 000
Crete’s first energy community, founded in 2019 in Arkalochori, brings citizens and municipalities together. A project funded by its members will give over 100 households and businesses free electricity for 25 years.
Hyperion (Greece)
€50 000
Athens’ first energy community to produce its own solar energy, Hyperion has about 120 members, and 71% of its decisionmakers are women. All major decisions are taken by a general assembly where every member has an equal vote, and members crowdfunded the inclusion of energy-vulnerable households free of charge.