The Province of Utrecht wants to help energy cooperatives in the transition to fully-fledged energy communities. In the context of the motion “Known and Loved: Energy cooperatives for all of us”, the province has asked WarmteLokaal to develop a practical framework for cooperatives that want to share energy and play a greater role in the local energy transition.
Energy cooperatives have been active in generating sustainable energy for years, but not always in sharing energy locally between members. The new Energy Act offers more possibilities for this, and the concept of energy communities is becoming increasingly important in European and national policy.
WarmteLokaal has developed a practical guide together with Energie van Utrecht to help cooperatives step by step with this transition. The guide not only contains a legal and technical analysis, but mainly offers a hands-on approach, including a specially developed Energy Canvas as a strategic tool.
The guide combines theory and practice. We analyse existing energy communities at home and abroad and translate these insights into an applicable step-by-step plan for Utrecht initiatives.
Key elements of the approach:
• Legal and policy context: Which legislation is relevant and what will change with the new Energy Act?
• Strategic building blocks: Which aspects are crucial for an energy community?
• The Energy Canvas: A practical model that helps cooperatives formulate and operationalise their strategy.
• Concrete examples: Lessons from pilots such as Agem Streekenergie, Deltawind and Eemnes Energie.
• Support for implementation: What are the first steps and how do you approach this?
A core component of the approach is the Energy Canvas developed by WarmteLokaal. This model helps energy cooperatives to plan their transition in a targeted manner and to determine which building blocks are still missing.
The Energy Canvas consists of six building blocks:
1. Strategy & Orientation – What is the vision and goal of the energy community?
2. Community & Members – How do you attract members and ensure active participation?
3. Energy system – What generation and storage options are needed?
4. Energy sharing & Organisation – How do you arrange the administration and mutual agreements?
5. Professionalisation – How do you ensure a stable organisation and collaborations?
6. Financial structure – What are the sources of income and cost models?
This canvas helps energy cooperatives to think step by step about their role and opportunities, without having to be fully operational as an energy community right away.
With the development of this guide and the Energy Canvas, WarmteLokaal offers energy cooperatives a practical roadmap to energy communities. This not only helps them to utilise new legislative opportunities, but also to increase local acceptance and involvement.
The guide is used by the province as a manual for cooperatives, and there are plans to organise training sessions and workshops to help cooperatives with the implementation. Would you like to know more about the workshops we have already developed for energy cooperatives? Then fill in our contact form.