The European Energy Communities Facility (ENERCOM Facility or the Facility) is funded by the European Union under the LIFE programme. The European Energy Communities 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. The ENERCOM Facility will launch two calls for proposals: the first in 2025 and the second in 2026. This description refers to the second call, anticipated in 2026.

EU-wide

Each selected energy community will receive a lump-sum grant of €45.000 to support the development of their business plan.

Beneficiaries will participate in a capacity building programme designed to help them mature their projects and improve their readiness for investment. The programme is a mandatory element as part of the Facility’s support. It includes a complete set of training modules as well as a business management guide to support the development and implementation of business plans. Additionally, beneficiaries will be able to participate in national peer-to-peer exchanges to facilitate knowledge-sharing, overcoming shared challenges, and fostering collaboration.

Applying communities must

• be established as a legal entity,

• comply with the European definitions of Citizen Energy Community or Renewable Energy Community,

• be located in one of the EU’s 27 Member States, Iceland, Ukraine, Moldova or North Macedonia,

• commit to completing the monitoring and impact assessment questionnaires,

• commit to following the capacity building programme during their collaboration with the ENERCOM Facility.

Applications must be submitted online via the ENERCOM Facility website.

The process consists of two steps:

1. Eligibility self-check 2. Applicants must first complete an automated self-assessment check which will determine their eligibility.

3. Application form – Only applicants who pass the eligibility check will be able to access and submit the full application form.

During the application phase, applicants will be required to provide a detailed description of both, their energy project and the operational structure of their community.

This is a newly launched program; future success stories will focus on replicable community-led clean energy projects across Europe.

Much like the European City Facility (EUCF) has empowered municipalities and local authorities to build a strong pipeline of sustainable energy projects across Europe, the EU Energy Communities Facility aims to do the same for energy communities. By providing targeted technical and financial support, this initiative will break down barriers and drive the creation of resilient, community-led energy projects across the continent.

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