The context for energy communities has significantly changed since the beginning of this decade. Recognising the role of citizens and other local actors in the energy transition, the EU created definitions for energy communities in various legal frameworks, which required national governments to set up supporting frameworks to promote the creation and growth of such initiatives.

Despite this opportunity, energy communities across the EU continue to face significant challenges. These include for instance complex administrative procedures and a lack of understanding or compliance from key system players such as public administrations, financing institutions, distribution system operators, and utilities. These obstacles often lead to delays in the implementation of community-led energy projects.

One of the biggest hurdles for energy communities across the EU is securing financing. Many rely on volunteer efforts until they generate revenue from their first project, making it difficult for them to access funding or develop robust business plans due to a lack of expertise and financial resources. Developing a viable business model is a crucial step in defining a community’s vision and attracting financial support. The European Energy Communities Facility was created to help close this gap.

The overall objective of the European Energy Communities Facility is to reduce the financial risk associated with the pre-development phase of energy community projects by distributing lump-sum grants to at least 140 energy communities. These grants will enable beneficiaries to develop sound business plans that strengthen their financial and operational sustainability. 

In addition, the Facility will create a capacity building programme to accompany beneficiaries in their journey to setting up a viable business plan. Part of the Facility’s capacity building activities include mapping, assessing and showcasing successful and replicable community energy initiatives and best practices across the EU, and mapping national legal frameworks, financial opportunities, and one-stop shops in target countries.

The ENERCOM Facility will support at least 140 communities. It will do so by two means:

• Financial support: Each beneficiary will receive a lump-sum grant of 45,000€ to develop a business plan and receive professional support.
• Capacity building programme: Beneficiaries will participate in a capacity building programme designed to help them mature and improve their readiness for market uptake. 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 common challenges, and fostering collaboration and synergies.

The financial support provided by the European Energy Communities Facility is specifically intended to fund activities required for the development of a business plan for projects planned by energy communities. This includes assessing the technical and financial aspects of the project as well as supporting essential pre-development work such as feasibility studies, obtaining permits, legal agreements, and other preparatory activities necessary to structure a solid and bankable business plan.

Find a complete description of the application process in the Frequently Asked Questions document and on Application process page of this website.

The ENERCOM Facility will organise two callsfor proposals, one in 2025 and one in 2026.

The first call for proposals opens on 2 June 2025 and closes on 30 September 2025. "The start date for the second call is yet to be confirmed, but it is expected to take place in the first semester of 2026.

Each energy community can only submit one single application per call for proposals. Eligible applicants whose proposals were not selected for a grant under the ENERCOM Facility’s first call for proposalsmay resubmit their proposal or submit a different one in the second call. 

Applicants who have already been awarded a grant in the first call are not eligible to submit new proposals in the second call.

You can find all the relevant information on the application process in the Guidelines for applicants, as well as on the Application process page of this website. The guidelines include a detailed description of the process, required documents, eligibility criteria, as well as an annotated application form. 

We invite you to carefully review these pieces of information to make sure you have a clear understanding of the process and requirements.

Should you have any questions beyond these documents, you can contact your national expert via the ENERCOM Facility’s Helpdesk.

Any energy community that complies with all of the following criteria can apply for support from the ENERCOM Facility. To help you understand whether you are eligible to apply for ENERCOM Facility support, we have developed an eligibility self-check that applicants will be asked to complete before being able to access the application form. Check your eligibility here!

Additional details can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions document.

Yes. The ENERCOM Facility supports the development of business plans both for energy communities that are setting up their first activity, as well as for communities that already have an activity and would like to develop a business plan for a new activity.

Yes. If you have in the past developed a business plan, but your feeling or experience is that this plan lacks specific elements to move to the financing and implementation stages and you would like to review and improve it, you can apply to the Facility.

Your eligibility will be checked in two stages:

• Application phase: Communities are asked to complete a self-assessment questionnaire to establish whether they comply with the eligibility criteria (see question 3.1 in this document for further information on the eligibility criteria). If the responses provided by the community meet the eligibility criteria, the community will be able to move to the application form.

• Evaluation phase: During the application process, applicants will be required to submit supporting documents or explanations to allow the Facility’s independent evaluators to verify the information provided in the eligibility self-check. Should the evaluators find that, based on the information provided in the application form, a community does not meet the eligibility criteria, the application may be rejected at the evaluation stage.

In order to access the ENERCOM Facility’s application form, your community will need to pass the eligibility self-check (see section 3 in this document for further information). You can find an annotated application form in the Facility's guidelines for applicants.

Applicants are requested to upload the following supporting documents to their proposals: 

1. A legal document proving that the energy community is an established legal entity.

2. A duly signed letter of commitment, following the provided template, confirming participation and agreement to complete all monitoring and impact questionnaires, as well as participate in the Facility’s mandatory capacity building programme. The letter must be signed by the community’s legal representative.

In addition, applicants will have the possibility to upload an organisational chart. While we strongly encourage communities to include such a chart in their application to help evaluators get a clear picture of their internal organization, this document is optional.

The legal document proving that the energy community established as a legal entity can be submitted in the applicant's national language. The letter of commitment must be completed using the template provided by the ENERCOM Facility, which will be in English.

Proposals submitted without the required supporting documents will be rejected as without these documents, evaluators will not be able to verify two of the eligibility criteria.

No. All required and optional documents need to be submitted with the application. Please note that applications that do not include the required documents will be disqualified from further evaluation. Applications that do not include the optional document (organisational chart) but that do provide the required documents will move to the evaluation stage - however, please note that all documents must be submitted together with the application. The Facility will not consider any documents submitted after the application has been received.

The guidelines for applicants published on the ENERCOM Facility’s website contain an annotated application form to help you understand what information the Facility is looking for in your application.

The application must be completed in English.

For the purpose of the Facility, an ‘emerging energy community’ is defined as a community that has not yet undertaken an energy-related project in the past.

To support the Facility’s objective of helping young energy communities overcome traditional challenges linked to the development of a first economically viable activity, emerging energy communities (as defined by the Facility) receive additional points in the evaluation.

To understand whether a community is an emerging energy community, the application form contains a question asking whether the project for which the community is applying for the grant is the energy community’s first energy-related project.

No, there is no minimum number of members required for energy communities to apply to the ENERCOM Facility.

The ENERCOM Facility supports a wide range of energy-related activities, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, heating and cooling, and electric mobility among others. However, technologies based on fossil fuels, nuclear energy, or other non-renewable energy sources are not eligible for support under this Facility. The focus is on sustainable and community-driven energy solutions that contribute to the clean energy transition.

The expected investment refers to the estimated total amount of financial resources required to implement the energy-related project being presented. This includes all costs necessary to put the project into operation, such as infrastructure, equipment, permits, and other relevant expenses.

It is important to note that the expected investment is separate from the €45,000 grant provided by the ENERCOM Facility. The grant is specifically intended to support the development of a business plan, not the direct implementation of the energy project itself. Therefore, applicants should carefully estimate and report the full investment needed to realize their proposed energy initiative.

Energy and climate impacts should be measured using quantifiable indicators that assess the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy savings, and the shift towards renewable energy sources. Common measurement methods include:

• CO₂ emission reductions: Measuring the decrease in carbon dioxide emissions compared to a baseline scenario.

• Energy savings: Calculating improvements in energy efficiency through reduced consumption (e.g., kWh saved per year).

• Renewable energy generation: Assessing the share of renewable energy in the total energy mix of the project.

The application form provides answer fields for each of these elements. Applicants may fill in any and all of these fields, depending on which apply to their specific proposal. Make sure to avoid double-counting in your estimated impacts.

If the expected investment and/or impacts cannot yet be precisely determined, applicants should provide thebest estimate based on available data. The evaluation process acknowledges that projects in the early stages may not have all figures finalized. However, applicants should demonstrate a clear methodology for refining these estimates as they develop their business plan.

The evaluation process consists of four main steps:

1. Verification of eligibility – Evaluators will corroborate the information provided during the eligibility self-check and ensure that all required information and supporting documents have been submitted.

2. Evaluation and scoring – Proposals will be assessed based on pre-defined evaluation criteria, with each proposal receiving scores from two independent evaluators (see section 3 of this document for more information)

3. Feasibility check – National experts will review pre-selected proposals for their expected feasibility in the national context. If any concerns arise, they will be flagged for evaluators, who may reassess and adjust scores where necessary. National experts will not be shown the applicant identification to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Evaluators may decide to revise their scores based on the feasibility check.

4. Re-evaluation and final selection – Following a final review of the scores by the Facility’s independent evaluators, the final list of selected applicants will be determined and communicated.

Each proposal is reviewed by two independent evaluators who assess its contents based on pre-defined evaluation criteria. Each evaluator assigns a score to the proposal, and the final score is determined as the average of the two individual scores. More information on the evaluation process can be found in the guidelines for applicants.

In order to be among the final beneficiaries, applicants need to

• Pass the eligibility check: The ENERCOM Facility’s independent evaluators will check the applications for the eligibility criteria. If the information provided by the community matches their self-assessment ofeligibility, the application moves forward. If the information provided in the application shows that a community is not eligible, the application will be rejected. A community whose application has been rejected during the first call can reapply for the Facility’s second call, provided it has remedied the elements that made the community not eligible.
• Reach the minimum pass threshold (overall and per criterion): In order for the Facility to consider a community ready for the grant, the application must receive the overall minimum score of 15 points, as well as the minimum score per category (see visual below). 
  
• Pass the feasibility check: After a preliminary scoring by the ENERCOM Facility’s independent experts, the Facility’s national experts will confirm whether the ambition and proposal outlined by the community is feasible, taking into consideration the national context. National experts will provide their feedback      to the ENERCOM Facility     ’s evaluators, who may reconsider their ranking based on the feedback provided by the national expert.
• Rank among the top 73 proposals (for the first call): Even if the Facility would like to support as many communities as possible, we operate within a limited budget. For this reason, during the first call, 73 communities will be selected for the grant. If your community ranks among the 73 applications with the highest score in the first call for proposals, your application will be successful.

The Facility will communicate the final results of the evaluation by 22 December 2025.

Applicants will receive an email notification with their results. The results of the first call for proposals will be communicated by 22 December 2025 at the latest. In case your application has been successful, you will need to provide the Facility with additional information through a so-called Beneficiary Identification Form by 9 January 2026 at the latest. Please make sure that the contact person is available during this period to send back the Beneficiary Identification Form.

Unsuccessful applicants will receive a feedback report outlining areas for improvement. If they choose to, they are encouraged to revise and resubmit their proposal in the second call. 

Appeals may be submitted to the Facility’s Helpdesk within 5 working days of receiving notification of the evaluation result. The Facility will not consider appeals after this period.

Once your application has been approved, your main point of contact will receive an invitation to fill in a Beneficiary Identification Form (BIF). The information provided in this form will serve to complete the grant agreement. You will need to provide the following information in the Beneficiary Identification Form: 

• Contact details of the legal representative who will be in charge of signing the grant agreement

• Legal address of the energy community

• Name and address of the bank where to issue the payment

• IBAN

• BIC/SWIFT code.

Once your application has been approved, your main point of contact will receive an invitation to fill in a Beneficiary Identification Form (see question 6.1 in this document). You will have 2 weeks from receiving the confirmation that your proposal has been accepted to complete this form. Once you have completed and submitted this form, the grant agreement will be generated by the platform and you will receive an invitation to sign it via DocuSign via email  from the European Energy Communities Facility’s Coordinator (REScoop.eu). This will be done within 2-4 weeks of receiving your  completed Beneficiary Identification Form. The Facility’s Coordinator will upload your final grant agreement countersigned on the platform, where you will be able to download it.

The first payment (50% of the total amount: 22,500€) will be made within 60 days of signing the grant agreement. The second payment (50% of the total amount: 22,500€) will be made by the end of November 2027 for the first call for proposals, and by summer 2028 for the second call for proposals.

The grant agreement will be generated automatically by the platform: If your project is selected you will be asked to fill in the Beneficiary Identification Form via the platform. Its data will be automatically filled out in the grant agreement template. You won’t have to do anything. REScoop.eu will send you a request to sign the document via DocuSign. Once the grant agreement is countersigned by REscoop.eu, it will be uploaded on the platform and you will be able to download it.

A business plan for an energy community is a strategic tool that helps define the community’s vision, objectives, governance structure, and operational approach to developing and sustaining its energy-related activities. Beyond serving as a roadmap for implementation, a well-prepared business plan plays a crucial role in analysing the financial viability of the initiative. It provides a structured assessment of the resources required for the project, including infrastructure, operational costs, and administrative needs, while also identifying potential revenue streams that can sustain the community’s activities in the long term. By detailing cost structures, estimating investment needs, and exploring various financing mechanisms such as grants, loans, and member contributions, the business plan enables your energy community to determine the most suitable approach to funding your activities. Additionally, it evaluates financial risks and outlines strategies to mitigate them, strengthening the project’s credibility for potential investors and financial institutions.

The final business plan will follow a standardized template, requiring beneficiaries to elaborate on a predefined set of criteria, including technical, financial, social, and legal aspects of their project. The technical and financial sections will incorporate key project due diligence components to validate the technical and economic viability of both the project and the energy community. Beneficiaries will be expected to detail their funding strategy, including potential funding sources and financing mechanisms.

• A key component of the financial analysis will be the assessment of the project's investment needs, revenue streams, and operational costs to ensure long-term sustainability. This will include a breakdown of capital expenditures, expected returns, and cash flow projections, allowing for a clear understanding of the financial feasibility of the initiative. Beneficiaries will also be required to outline risk mitigation strategies to address financial uncertainties and demonstrate how the energy community can remain financially resilient over time.

• The technical analysis will assess the feasibility, design, and implementation strategy of the energy project. This will include details on the selected technology, system design, expected energy output, and performance indicators. Beneficiaries must demonstrate the technical soundness of their approach by considering factors such as site conditions, grid connection requirements, energy storage solutions, and operational efficiency. The analysis will also need to cover maintenance strategies and long-term operational requirements to ensure the project’s reliability and sustainability.

• The market section will assess and reflect on the current market conditions for energy communities in the applicant's country, providing insight into opportunities and challenges. 

• The social and community section will focus on aspects such as open participation, citizen engagement, social inclusion, and the expected social benefits for the broader community.

• The legal section will outline how the initiative complies with EU and national definitions for energy communities and will include an analysis of the legal provisions and enabling frameworks established by national programs. Beneficiaries will also be required to explain and justify their governance model, ensuring transparency and accountability. 

Any additional studies or supporting materials necessary to complete these sections may be provided as annexes.

The business plan may be prepared by the beneficiaries or their service providers in the local language to ensure its relevance to the community and stakeholders. However, to facilitate validation and review, beneficiaries will be required to submit an English summary of the final business plan.

Yes, external consultants can be hired to develop the business plan or to support energy communities in preparing specific sections. However, the energy community remains responsible for overseeing the process, ensuring alignment with its objectives, and maintaining ownership of the final business plan.

Beneficiaries will receive support through a structured capacity building programme designed to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to develop their business  plans. This programme is mandatory for beneficiaries and will include a series of online learning modules and training sessions aimed at accelerating the development and implementation of the business plans. National Experts may be consulted for advice on the development of the business plan.

Your business plan should refer to the same project included in your initial application, as your initiative was selected based on the evaluators' assessment of that specific project. However, minor modifications may be introduced if they are justified by the findings of analysis and studies conducted during the development of the business plan. Any deviations or changes must be clearly explained, and their necessity must be justified. These modifications will be reviewed and verified during the validation process once the business plan is submitted.