Building an energy community in Italy – a rollercoaster story

In an interview with Marine Cornelis from Next Consumer, Felipe Barroco from AESS describes how much of a rollercoaster the implementation of such a social energy player is, but how rewarding also each small advancement feels for him and the local community in Campania region.

We powered up the Grafting Cities Conference!

What better place than sun-filled Valencia to talk about social renewable projects! What better group of people, than the hundreds of city-makers that gathered in Valencia for the conference to talk about the POWER UP pilots?

From cradle to grave: overcoming community energy challenges in cities​

Renewable community projects can come with quite some challenges. During this co-development session, participants will be confronted with three pioneering initiatives. Put yourself in the shoes of those cities and remove stumbling blocks around PV or community heat through collective brainstorming. Is this something you can apply in your own town?​ Join this session at Energy Cities’ Annual Conference during the Valencia Climate Week on 26 June 2024.

Valencia, a ‘fair transition’ living lab

Valencia is Green Capital in 2024, a title which recognises the longstanding pioneer in sustainability. The city council does aim for a transformation that meets environmental criteria as much as social ones. Its outstanding support to energy communities and the special focus on the weakest residents, suffering from energy poverty, ill-health or other social disadvantageous, make Valencia a “fair transition” living lab. The experiences gathered in the city, both in winter and in summer, are shared with other local authorities within the Sun4 All Community of Practice.

Flashback on an insightful conference about inclusive and empowering solutions

Last week, POWER UP coordinator Eduardo Blanco spoke at the EnergyMeasures Conference “Illuminating Perspectives: Panel Discussion on Tackling Energy Poverty” taking place in Brussels. Sitting side by side with other energy poverty specialists, Eduardo shared the business model diversity explored and developed by the five pilots.

Who benefits? – Evaluating impact on vulnerable tenants

Testing energy efficiency support schemes just for fun wouldn’t make sense. What effect do they have? What methods and data work best to understand their impact? Last October, Manon Burbidge from the University of Manchester (UK) shared some science-backed insights around these questions with the POWER UP partners.