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Eligibility self-check

A crucial step before you can apply to the Facility is to understand whether your community project is eligible for funding according to the Facility’s criteria.

The main purpose of this step is to save you time – if your project is not eligible under the Facility, the self-eligibility check will show it, and avoid you going through the whole application process only to then realise that your project was not eligible. You can only access the application form if your community matches all the eligibility criteria.

Please note that the EECFacility evaluators will verify your eligibility during the evaluation phase based on the information you provide in the application form. If it turns out during this check that your community does not comply, your application will be rejected. You will be able to reapply in the second call in case the relevant elements have been resolved in the meantime.    

1. Applicants must be registered as a legal entity

Are you a formally organised legal entity such as a cooperative, association, limited company, or similar organisation?
Note: Any legal entity that complies with the EU energy community definitions can apply, even if it was not originally set up to be an energy community.

2. The legal entity complies with one of the EU energy community definitions

2.1. Activities

Are the activities you are currently undertaking - or planning to undertake - aligned with the types of activities that qualify an initiative as an energy community according to the EU definitions?
For your reference, the EU definitions include:
  • Renewable energy communities: Operate in renewable energy across electricity and heating, enabling production, consumption, storage, and sales.
  • Citizen energy communities: Operate within the electricity sector, covering renewable energy, with activities including generation, distribution, supply, aggregation, storage, energy efficiency, and EV charging.

2.2. Membership structure

Are your membership criteria aligned with the membership rules that qualify an initiative as an energy community according to the EU definitions?
For your reference, the EU definitions consider as eligible
  • For renewable energy communities: natural persons, micro, small, and medium enterprises (SMEs), and local authorities in proximity to the community, provided energy is not their primary economic activity.
  • For citizen energy communities: all types of entities, including public companies and large enterprises, as long as energy is not their main economic activity.

2.3. Open and voluntary participation

Is your participation structure aligned with the participation rules that qualify an initiative as an energy community according to the EU definitions?
For your reference, the EU definitions include
  • Renewable energy communities: Participation is open based on open and voluntary participation.
  • Citizen energy communities: Follow voluntary and open participation principles but restrict decision-making power to members not engaged in large-scale commercial energy activities.

2.4. Governance and effective control

Is your governance structure aligned with the governance rules that qualify an initiative as an energy community according to the EU definitions?
For your reference, the EU definitions include
  • Renewable energy communities: Controlled by participants located near renewable energy projects owned by the community, ensuring the energy sector is not their primary economic activity.
  • Citizen energy communities: Controlled by natural persons, local authorities, or small enterprises.

2.5. Primary purpose

Is your primary purpose aligned with the purpose rules that qualify an initiative as an energy community according to the EU definitions?
For your reference, the EU definitions state that the main purpose of energy communities should be to provide environmental, economic, or social community benefits to its shareholders, members, and/or the local areas where the community operates rather than financial profits.

3. Applicants must be registered and based in one of the eligible countries under the LIFE programme

Is your legal entity established and operating in any of the EU-27 Member States, Iceland, Ukraine, Moldova or North Macedonia?

4. Applicants must commit to completing the monitoring and impact measurement questionnaires and follow the capacity building programme

Do you commit to completing the monitoring and impact measurement questionnaires and providing any requested information, as well as assigning human resources to follow the capacity building programme?

Result of the eligibility self-check

Please answer all questions in order to find out if your energy community is eligible.

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