7 August 2024
Against a backdrop of volatile energy costs and increased regulatory pressure on the environment, energy communities are set to grow.
As major consumers of energy, businesses still need to improve their energy management in order to reduce their impact on the environment and remain competitive. Energy communities can provide a solution to both these concerns. Driven by a European initiative, new forms of energy sharing are springing up all over Europe, and particularly in Wallonia.
Strengthened governance, including for SMEs, from 2026
The integration of sustainability objectives is set to affect a growing number of companies and SMEs over the next few years, whether through reporting obligations or as a means of accessing sources of finance.
What is an Energy Community?
Energy communities enable local players (citizens, local authorities, small and medium-sized businesses) to come together through a legal structure (non-profit organisation, cooperative, etc.) to produce, consume, store and sell renewable energy, and also to share the energy produced by the community’s own production units within the community.
Would you like to know whether this could apply to your company or local authority, and under what conditions?
Climact’s team of legal, technical and economic experts can help you find out by answering these questions:
- What is an energy community, who are the different players involved, and what are their roles and responsibilities?
- What legislation at European, Belgian and regional level must your project comply with?
- What are the future changes in the legal framework that you need to take into account when designing your project to ensure its long-term viability?
- What investment support is available for sustainable energy (energy efficiency of processes and renewable energy)?
- How do you approach your partners (real estate, public authorities, businesses in your community) to convince them of the added value of your project?
Following a diagnosis carried out with your teams, you will receive a report including recommendations:
- Which legal form to adopt: although the European directive does not place any restrictions on the legal form to be adopted by the energy community, each form has its advantages and disadvantages, and we will be able to guide you in developing the structure that best suits your project.
- What pitfalls should be avoided when setting up an energy community and in the future?
What are the concrete benefits of setting up an Energy Community, for you and your partners?
Economic benefits: the financial impact on the electricity bill is positive, both for the generating company and for its partners. In general, the difference in price for consumers within an Energy Community is considered to be around 10 to 15%. What’s more, this price is less volatile and more predictable.
Image benefits: your company or local authority plays an active role and directly supports the energy transition. You become a responsible agent of change, as part of a collective, local dynamic.
What are the practical changes for you and your partners in an Energy Community?
The definition of the sharing perimeter (limited to a single building or to a local perimeter comprising several sites and buildings) will determine the need to create a legal personality, as well as various contracts.
Collective self-consumption within the same building: the renewable energy sources are located in or on the same building, and the active customers act collectively in or on the same building: no obligation to create a legal entity.
Creation of two contracts:
- Contract between the owner of the surplus and the consumers of the surplus;
- Contract between the owner of the surplus and the distribution system operator (DSO) setting out the respective responsibilities (application of a distribution key, collection and communication of energy consumption and production data, etc.).
- Maintenance of the contract with the supplier, enabling the latter to supply the share of electricity not generated by energy sharing.
Sharing within a local perimeter: geographical perimeter located within part of the same DSO and obligation to set up a legal entity: the energy community.
Creation of three contracts:
- Contract between the community and its members (consumers and prosumers).
- Contract between the community and the DSO
- Contract between the community and a supplier for the purchase of the collective electricity surplus
Today, we can examine together how you can benefit from energy sharing within an Energy Community: contact our expert Dimitri Mertens for more information.