From the first considerations to the ongoing operation of an energy community, a lot has to be decided and initiated. At the same time, you need to comply with legal and administrative formalities.
The following steps may help you facilitate the set-up of your energy community or collective action. Thereby, the order of the steps depends on the individual circumstances of your energy project. Some steps might even have to be carried out simultaneously.
1Define the goals of your energy community!
Set priorities and clarify which sector you want to start with: electricity, heating or mobility. Of course, your project can include all of these sectors, but in the beginning, it may be easier to focus on one. Define goals, sub-goals and a realistic timeframe for achieving them.
Get to know your opportunities to start a citizen-driven energy project by having a look at other energy communities.
2Get necessary information about energy communities, technologies and project concepts!
Make your project succeed through sound technical and economic planning. Learn about possible project concepts.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be an expert for everything, but you should have a good overview about as many aspects of an energy community as possible. Maybe now is a good time to have a first look at financing possibilities or the legal framework you will have to work with.
3Speak with people who could support your idea!
It’s easier to achieve your goals and move forward with the support of your community. Talk to people who could support your idea.
Ideally try to involve those who…
- support your ideas and goals,
- are known in the community and have a good reputation,
- are willing to spend some of their free time to support the process.
To identify suitable groups of persons, you can have a look at our types of members and our target group profiles. Before speaking with them identify key messages you want to transfer.
You can also prepare yourself by using our white label materials and step-by-step guides on communication.
4Talk to other energy communities!
Get in touch with founders of renewable energy communities. Their experiences will help you to streamline your own process and to save time. It is always good to talk to several energy communities. You can also visit them together with your supporters to see how projects in other energy communities have been implemented.
Our connect with others section shows you opportunities how to get in touch with like-minded people.
5Define a first energy project for your community!
It is time to clearly define your project, also with the help of our calculations tools and guidelines. The main goal of energy communities is to set-up new renewable energy or energy efficiency projects to reduce the fossil energy consumption in your community. You may start, for example, with a larger community-owned photovoltaic installation on a public building, or you may focus on the set-up of a small district heating network. Another idea would be to implement a wind energy project. Get inspired by best practice examples and learn more about possible project concepts.
Contact the network operator to find out more about your local circumstances and possibilities.
If you need help, have a look at our FAQs or see your options for national and international support.
6Bring the mayor and city/municipality council members on board!
Although the involvement of local politicians, such as mayors or members of the municipality/city council, is not essential for every energy community project, it is highly recommended to involve them and motivate them to support you.
If you manage to have the municipality/city as supporter on board, many issues will become easier, including advertising, recognition, legal aspects, provision of public land or surfaces (e.g. public roofs for PV systems), etc.
To identify suitable groups of people, have a look at the profiles of politicians, municipalities and how to reach multipliers.
7Involve professional planners!
Depending on the first energy project that you want to implement as energy community, you may need professional planners. Smaller projects may be also planned by you or your supporters. Perhaps you even have such planners as a member of your energy community?
In the get support or connect with others section of this gateway, you may get further advice or ask others with which professional planners they had experiences.
8Clarify legal form, responsibilities, business model of your community!
Step by step and in accord with the other supporters, you should clarify the legal form, responsibilities, and business model of your community. You may need to talk to experts for legal, technical and financial advice. Now is the time to have detailed look on our legislation and financing sections to get a good overview and choose the best options for your project.
9Get a critical mass of supporters!
Now that you have defined your project idea, talked to existing energy communities, and got first important supporters on board, it is time to reach a critical mass of members.
You don’t have to be a professional communications officer to use various communication channels successfully. Our get members section supports you in approaching other people. This may include personally reaching out to people that are important for your project, setting up your social media presence, writing newspaper articles, or distributing flyers.
If you want to personalize the offered material, have a look at our picture database. All images are completely royalty free to use.
10Organize an information event for the community!
To involve citizens, you could hold presentations at information events or even organise your own.
The white label communication material offers you easy to use templates for flyers, factsheets, or newspaper articles. If you want to organize an event we even offer you templates for invitations, PowerPoint slides, and a checklist for events.
11Formally establish your energy community!
Are you ready to establish your energy community? Congratulations! Depending on the business model and the foreseen legal form of your project, it may involve various legal steps. The foundation an ideal occasion for a public celebration which will give your energy community additional visibility.
12Make your project fly!
To set-up new energy projects, you may need to involve more citizens to participate. The target group profiles and types of members outline how you can reach out to and motivate them.