Within the European Union, Greece is the first member state to have passed a law on Energy Communities (ECs) in the Parliament in early 2018. Taking advantage of the new legal framework as well as the recent incentives and subsidies enabling the set-up of ECs in Greece, the project ECOISM seeks to support citizen centred energy transition on the Greek islands.

To do so, the project provides an in-depth analysis of the enabling factors and constraints ECs face, specifically on islands, as much as the solutions to those constraints. It also informs policy makers and encourages dialogue between stakeholders at local, regional and national levels. The project supports island communities in setting up ECs and is therefore involved in the establishment of five energy community projects. By raising awareness and building capacity for climate action in Greece, ECOISM strives to increase renewable penetration on the Greek islands, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore to contribute directly to the EU and national climate and energy policies.

This approach allows to harness the benefits ECs offer and to thereby create resilient and thriving island economies.

In this project, nexus is responsible for the development of a toolbox on participatory process design for community energy projects and for research and analysis of energy cooperatives experiences on various EU islands.

Duration: 10/2019 – 03/2021
Client: Europäische Klimaschutzinitiative (EUKI)
Team: Dr. Thomas Blanchet (Project management), Milena Groß, Uta Zetek
Project partner: Network of Sustainable Greek Islands (DAFNI), Technical University of Athen

logo: Aegean Energy and Environment Agency