Sun4All

Project summary: The Sun4All project has set up financial support mechanisms to facilitate access to renewable energy for households in energy poverty through innovative energy sharing programmes in four pilot cities: Barcelona (Spain), the Community of Communes Cœur de Savoie (France), Rome (Italy) and Almada (Portugal).

Role of the Institute: To analyse public policies and make recommendations related to energy communities and their role in combating energy poverty at different levels of governance: European Union, national, and regional/local.

Key figures / Project achievements: €600,000 invested by municipalities in solar panels for the Sun4All project (amount doubled if long-term investment commitments beyond the scope of the project are included), 1,250 direct beneficiaries, 2,000 European decision-makers and stakeholders directly affected.

Impact on public policy: JDI produced a report and three policy briefs (one for each level of governance). These documents made a number of concrete recommendations, such as making future European funding conditional on the redistribution of social benefits; exempting participation in energy communities from the loss of national tax or social rights; the addition of social, local and participatory criteria to urban planning or public procurement rules on renewable energy; the priority design of community energy programmes targeting residents of social housing or establishments (emergency accommodation, care facilities, public schools).

To maximise the impact of these recommendations, Sun4All has widely disseminated them on its websites, social networks, via webinars, on European platforms, by partnering with other European actors, or by presenting them directly to decision-makers (DG ENER). Project members have participated in numerous key events such as the annual conference of the Energy Poverty Advisory Hub in Warsaw, the European Forum of Energy Communities REScoop and the International Social Housing Festival. A highlight was the organisation, together with Climate Alliance, of a session at EUSEW 2024 in Brussels, followed by a policy cocktail, bringing together 300 participants.

Finally, although the direct impact of projects such as Sun4All on European legislation is difficult to measure, its recommendations are in line with the EU’s evolving policy orientations. For example, the new Electricity Market Directive now requires Member States to guarantee access for vulnerable groups to energy sharing schemes (financial support, production quotas) and sets a target of 10% of shared electricity accessible to these groups in public procurement. The work carried out by Sun4All has been explicitly recognised as good practice in the EU guidelines on energy poverty, annexed to the Commission Recommendation (C/2023/4080). It has also been highlighted in several reference documents, including a report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a publication by the Council of Europe Development Bank, and independent scientific articles (e.g. in the journal Energy Research & Social Science).

List of Sun4All publications

• Are renewable energy communities a vehicle to mitigate the energy crisis and lift people out of energy poverty?, Sun4All, Collaborative briefing, March 2023
• Klervi Kerneïs and Camille Defard, Comparative analysis of the regulatory framework in Sun4All pilot cities, Sun4All, Report, May 2023.
• Klervi Kerneïs, The EU framework on energy communities, Sun4All, Policy brief, October 2023
• Klervi Kerneïs, Fleshing out energy community legislation in EU Member states for a fair energy transition, Sun4All, Policy brief, June 2024
• Klervi Kerneïs, Highlighting effective ways for local governments to support energy communities and socially inclusive renewable energy projects, Sun4All, Policy brief, April 2024
• Klervi Kerneïs and Siddharth Sareen, Policy Action Report, Sun4All, Report, September 2024