December 1st 2021 marked the year 1 of the Lightness project. The Consortium held its 12th month General Assembly meeting virtually (although the original plan was to meet in person in The Netherlands) due to Covid-19 restrictions. Despite it all, partners have managed to keep their spirits lifted and continue to do a great job working towards the promotion of Citizen Energy Communities.
Lightness is taken upon the challenge of empowering citizens to be main actors in the green energy transition in Europe through the implementation of Citizen Energy Communities, a new figure that opens up numerous opportunities for restructuring the energy market while advancing on the EU’s objectives of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
This is an exciting task that joins innovate technologies (smart grids, renewable energy, demand response, flexibility, EV, storage) with innovative solutions and business models, putting in the center of the action the Citizen as an active actor, changing its traditional role from simple consumer to well-informed and active prosumer that takes decisions on the energy market.
With 7 pilots covering different types of communities and located in different geographical areas, the Lightness Consortium is in a privileged position to provide these innovative solutions. One main barrier though, is the lack of national regulation developing the concept of energy communities, making it difficult to implement them . Nevertheless, we are working with citizens and relevant stakeholders to be ready for the explosion of this new figure, trying to get ahead before the future regulatory framework.
In regards with the work package “Replication, Exploitation and Market Uptake”, R2M has guided the Consortium in the identification of 12 Exploitable Results, ranging from technological solutions (demand response services, IT assessment tool, platform for management of projects, etc.) through sociological and policy solutions (evaluation models, design of processes, policy advice, roadmaps, etc.). The Lightness project will continue working in developing the exploitation strategies to make sure these innovative solutions have an impact in the energy system.