Five years of Energy Communities in Greece and The Green Tank launches its Community Energy Watch.
Citizens can produce the energy they consume. Τhus, on the one hand, they actively participate in tackling the climate crisis and, on the other, they are protected from the skyrocketing electricity prices. The tool they have in their hands to achieve this is energy communities using self-production renewable energy systems and collective self-production through virtual net metering.
Energy communities were established in Greece in 2018, introducing in the country’s energy planning a powerful tool for a just energy transition, the decentralization of energy resources, and energy democracy. Energy communities were built on the foundations of energy cooperatives which emerged against the backdrop of the economic crisis with a sound demand from citizens for their own participation in the use of energy resources. Since then, changes in the institutional framework have taken place, aiming to address weaknesses identified along the way, the latest being the transposition into Greek national law of relevant provisions on energy communities of two European directives.
Recognizing the very important role that energy communities can play in the green energy transition, The Green Tank systematically monitors and documents their progress. In a series of reports, it has highlighted the key facts and problems that the energy communities face in Greece, and has put forward policy recommendations aimed at strengthening the institution especially in Greece’s lignite regions and, in particular, non-profit projects. The increased interest of citizens during the energy crisis as well as the surge of requests for self-produced energy from energy communities, generated the idea for a dedicated webpage that will inform policy makers, researchers and interested citizens about:
- the latest quantitative data on energy communities and their projects in the Greek territory and its lignite areas,
- the current institutional framework in Greece,
- the available funds,
- the necessary steps for the creation of an energy community,
- the parliamentary debate on energy communities,
- the Green Tank’s recommendations for strengthening the institutional framework, the optimal management of resources and the resolution of longstanding problems.
You can browse The Green Tank’s Community Energy Watch following this link: https://thegreentank.gr/en/community-energy-watch-en/
