IRENA Coalition for Action releases new report onstimulating community energy investment
Citizen-led renewable energy projects – commonly known as “community energy” – can play an important role in the energy transition and a post-COVID recovery by maximising the local socio-economic benefits of renewables and increasing public support for theenergy transition.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Coalition for Action’s latest white paper reviews measures that stimulate and sustain community energy. Although renewable energy investments by citizens and communities have gained traction in many countries, knowledge exchange on a global level has been limited. This paper fills the gap by showcasing policy measures and financing mechanisms that reflect best practices and offering recommendations to governments and financial institutions on how to accelerate community energy development and reap its benefits.
To scale up community energy investments,the Coalition for Action recommendsthe following seven actions forgovernments and financial institutions:
- Build awareness and develop a shared understanding of community energy.
- Adopt targets and policy designs that value citizen participation and local socio-economic development.
- Establish dedicated agencies or one-stop shops to support community energy.
- Facilitate community access to capital through targeted public finance.
- Support innovative financing mechanisms and business models for community energy projects and the most vulnerable.
- Encourage aggregation of andcollaboration between community energy projects.
- Integrate community energy in energy access and local development programmes.
To view the IRENA Coalition for Action white paper, please click here
About the Coalition
The IRENA Coalition for Action brings together leading renewable energy players from around the world with the common goal of advancing the uptake of renewable energy. The Coalition facilitates global dialogues between public and private sectors to develop actions to increase the share of renewables in the global energy mix and accelerate the global energy transition.
