LocalRES final event: sharing lessons from Renewable Energy Communities around Europe

On 21–22 April 2026, the LocalRES project held its final event in Brussels, bringing together project partners, Renewable Energy Communities, municipalities, policy experts and energy-sector stakeholders.

The event was an opportunity to look back at five years of work on local renewable energy and to share lessons from the project’s demonstration sites in Italy, Spain, Austria and Germany. Partners presented the main results of LocalRES, including tools to support energy community planning and the operation of local energy systems.

A key message from the event was that Renewable Energy Communities are not only technical projects. They also depend on trust, local cooperation, citizen engagement and strong municipal support. The LocalRES pilots showed concrete progress, including more local renewable energy production, reduced grid dependency, emissions reductions and new ways to involve citizens in the energy transition.

The event also welcomed five inspiring Renewable Energy Communities from Italy, Greece, Spain and Bulgaria. Their experiences showed that energy communities can take many forms, from citizen-led cooperatives to municipality-led initiatives. Many of them also work on wider social goals, such as tackling energy poverty, supporting vulnerable households and strengthening local participation.

A policy discussion explored what is still needed to help Renewable Energy Communities grow. Participants highlighted the importance of better access to energy data, simpler rules, fair access to flexibility markets, stronger cooperation with distribution system operators and clearer support from public authorities.

Overall, the LocalRES final event showed that energy communities can play an important role in making the energy transition more local, democratic and socially inclusive. As the project comes to an end, its tools, pilot experiences and best practices offer useful lessons for other municipalities and communities across Europe.