Periodic Reporting for period 2 - UP-STAIRS (UP-lifting Communities: Structuring collective Action for Sustainable local Transition and Identifying Regulatory Solutions for adopting frontier technologies and disruptive business models)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-03-01 bis 2023-11-30
BUILDING A LOW-CARBON, CLIMATE RESILIENT FUTURE: SECURE, CLEAN AND EFFICIENT ENERGY
The objective of the project is to create a One stop Shop Digital Platform which will include information on existing one-stop-shops and sustainable energy communities.
There is a gap in the market as many people are still unaware of the need to reduce energy consumption nor are aware of the tools, costs and grants associated with different degrees of retrofit. This is where local authorities can play a major role making retrofit of homes part of the lexicon and something that is achievable by the population of homeowners.
Why is it important:
The residential sector has a significant role to play in achieving the EUs binding target of 32.5% energy efficiency saving by 2030. Recent EU Directives have advanced definitions for two types of energy communities. A ‘Renewable Energy Community’ and a ‘Citizens Energy Community’. While there are similarities between the two, there are key differences - their structure and ability to participate as a market actor. There is limited available information published in an approachable manner that explains these differences. Thus organising an energy community requires a great deal of expertise. The regular consumer often feels side-lined and unable to participate.
Overall Objectives:
Objective 1 - To accelerate the uptake of Sustainable Energy Communities in each of the 5 pilot regions by offering an expert-led programme for establishing and operating a Sustainable Energy Community
Objective 2 - To facilitate an increase in the uptake of prosumership within the local communities as a means of driving investment in renewable energy generation at the local level
Objective 3 - To demonstrate the Flexibility and Collective Action power of the UP-STAIRS Energy Service model framework by applying it across 5 disparate regions with dis-similar residential demographics
Objective 4 - To demonstrate the UP-STAIRS Energy Service as an innovative and effective tool that can be replicated to larger regions by member states to enhance the delivery of Article 2a of the EPBD and the 2018 EU Directive (recast) on the Promotion of the Use of Energy from Renewable Sources
The objective of the project is to create a One stop Shop Digital Platform which will include information on existing one-stop-shops and sustainable energy communities.
There is a gap in the market as many people are still unaware of the need to reduce energy consumption nor are aware of the tools, costs and grants associated with different degrees of retrofit. This is where local authorities can play a major role making retrofit of homes part of the lexicon and something that is achievable by the population of homeowners.
Why is it important:
The residential sector has a significant role to play in achieving the EUs binding target of 32.5% energy efficiency saving by 2030. Recent EU Directives have advanced definitions for two types of energy communities. A ‘Renewable Energy Community’ and a ‘Citizens Energy Community’. While there are similarities between the two, there are key differences - their structure and ability to participate as a market actor. There is limited available information published in an approachable manner that explains these differences. Thus organising an energy community requires a great deal of expertise. The regular consumer often feels side-lined and unable to participate.
Overall Objectives:
Objective 1 - To accelerate the uptake of Sustainable Energy Communities in each of the 5 pilot regions by offering an expert-led programme for establishing and operating a Sustainable Energy Community
Objective 2 - To facilitate an increase in the uptake of prosumership within the local communities as a means of driving investment in renewable energy generation at the local level
Objective 3 - To demonstrate the Flexibility and Collective Action power of the UP-STAIRS Energy Service model framework by applying it across 5 disparate regions with dis-similar residential demographics
Objective 4 - To demonstrate the UP-STAIRS Energy Service as an innovative and effective tool that can be replicated to larger regions by member states to enhance the delivery of Article 2a of the EPBD and the 2018 EU Directive (recast) on the Promotion of the Use of Energy from Renewable Sources
Under Work Package 1:
- An ethics compliance report has been completed.
- All the Deliverables have been submitted.
- The Midterm Review meeting was held on the 8th July 2022.
- The Data Management Plan has been reviewed every six months and updated by the end of the project.
- Draft reports were completed which detailed the plan for data and IP management were issued and is updated every 6 months. A final report summarising IPR management activities was completed in advance of the end of the project.
- The First and Second Progress Report were submitted.
- The Final Publishable summary has been completed in advance of the end of the project.
- An ethics compliance report has been completed.
Under Work Package 2 is now complete.
- Research and review of existing OSSs, stakeholder engagement strategies, existing tools, policies and projects.
- The standardized UP-STAIRS OSS business model framework has been designed for each region.
- A set of collective financial schemes has been developed and it has been assessed and adapted for each region’s typology, socioeconomic, and climate contexts.
- Standards for governance and mediation processes were defined for each region.
- A plan was developed for adapting the UP-STAIRS Framework to the pilot contexts.
- The engagement strategies for enticing citizens to participate in energy communities has been developed for each region.
- The training plan and training material have been developed for the Implementation champions and are now ready to be implemented.
Under Work Package 3:
- All the Deliverables have been submitted.
- Each pilot region has identified Implementation Champions candidates and identified their training needs.
- A community Energy Action plan has been developed for each pilot site (D3.1).
- A plan for monitoring the implementation of the OSSs has been developed.
- The first training for Implementation Champions took place in all the UP-STAIRS pilots by M22 and its corresponding report was completed (D3.2).
- OSS opened in all the pilots by M23 and have been operational up to the end of the project.
- The monitoring programme for the OSS has been implemented and monitoring data has been updated every three months since M25 and up to the end of the project.
Under Work Package 4
- All the Deliverables have been submitted.
- The UP-STAIRS Digital Platform went live in M25 and has remained operational until the end of the project. It was tested after it became operational.
- The training guide for the UP-STAIRS Digital Platform has been completed.
- The strategy for the UP-STAIRS Digital Platform replication and scaling has been designed.
- Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) potential to facilitate collective action has been explored and analysed.
Under Work Package 5
- All the Deliverables have been submitted.
- Potential key actors have been surveyed.
- Key steps, incentives and blockages for the collective actions have been identified for each partner country.
- A framework for legal support to citizens has been designed.
- Three UP-STAIRS Workshops have taken place.
- The framework for legal support to citizens has been updated.
- A policy paper on facilitating collective actions has been produced, including regulatory barriers and recommendations.
Under Work Package 6
- All the Deliverables have been submitted.
- The Dissemination and Communication Plan was developed and submitted.
- The Dissemination and Communication Plan and materials have been updated.
- Project website was developed and launched, the Social Media channels are active.
- A graphical identity and dissemination materials were created and are disseminated.
- The second UP-STAIRS video has been produced.
- The Final Conference took place in M38.
- Training modules for citizens and potential UP-STAIRS Implementation Champions have been reviewed and new self-training materials have been created.
Work Package 7 is now complete
- An ethics compliance report has been completed.
- All the Deliverables have been submitted.
- The Midterm Review meeting was held on the 8th July 2022.
- The Data Management Plan has been reviewed every six months and updated by the end of the project.
- Draft reports were completed which detailed the plan for data and IP management were issued and is updated every 6 months. A final report summarising IPR management activities was completed in advance of the end of the project.
- The First and Second Progress Report were submitted.
- The Final Publishable summary has been completed in advance of the end of the project.
- An ethics compliance report has been completed.
Under Work Package 2 is now complete.
- Research and review of existing OSSs, stakeholder engagement strategies, existing tools, policies and projects.
- The standardized UP-STAIRS OSS business model framework has been designed for each region.
- A set of collective financial schemes has been developed and it has been assessed and adapted for each region’s typology, socioeconomic, and climate contexts.
- Standards for governance and mediation processes were defined for each region.
- A plan was developed for adapting the UP-STAIRS Framework to the pilot contexts.
- The engagement strategies for enticing citizens to participate in energy communities has been developed for each region.
- The training plan and training material have been developed for the Implementation champions and are now ready to be implemented.
Under Work Package 3:
- All the Deliverables have been submitted.
- Each pilot region has identified Implementation Champions candidates and identified their training needs.
- A community Energy Action plan has been developed for each pilot site (D3.1).
- A plan for monitoring the implementation of the OSSs has been developed.
- The first training for Implementation Champions took place in all the UP-STAIRS pilots by M22 and its corresponding report was completed (D3.2).
- OSS opened in all the pilots by M23 and have been operational up to the end of the project.
- The monitoring programme for the OSS has been implemented and monitoring data has been updated every three months since M25 and up to the end of the project.
Under Work Package 4
- All the Deliverables have been submitted.
- The UP-STAIRS Digital Platform went live in M25 and has remained operational until the end of the project. It was tested after it became operational.
- The training guide for the UP-STAIRS Digital Platform has been completed.
- The strategy for the UP-STAIRS Digital Platform replication and scaling has been designed.
- Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) potential to facilitate collective action has been explored and analysed.
Under Work Package 5
- All the Deliverables have been submitted.
- Potential key actors have been surveyed.
- Key steps, incentives and blockages for the collective actions have been identified for each partner country.
- A framework for legal support to citizens has been designed.
- Three UP-STAIRS Workshops have taken place.
- The framework for legal support to citizens has been updated.
- A policy paper on facilitating collective actions has been produced, including regulatory barriers and recommendations.
Under Work Package 6
- All the Deliverables have been submitted.
- The Dissemination and Communication Plan was developed and submitted.
- The Dissemination and Communication Plan and materials have been updated.
- Project website was developed and launched, the Social Media channels are active.
- A graphical identity and dissemination materials were created and are disseminated.
- The second UP-STAIRS video has been produced.
- The Final Conference took place in M38.
- Training modules for citizens and potential UP-STAIRS Implementation Champions have been reviewed and new self-training materials have been created.
Work Package 7 is now complete
The OSS in Upper Austria has opened 6 months ahead of the time planned. To date, over 350 individual advice sessions (on-site, by phone, video meetings) were held in Upper Austria. ESV has also managed to convince the regional government to launch a dedicated financial support programme for RECs.
Key achievements/impacts of the project programme:
- Setting-up and testing 5 One-Stop-Shops for energy communities and collective local action
- Development of Business Model Framework (BMF) developed within the project adapted to each pilot context.
- Triggering 66 million Euro in sustainable energy investments / energy-related investments
- Engaging 10,000 consumers in sustainable energy activities
Key achievements/impacts of the project programme:
- Setting-up and testing 5 One-Stop-Shops for energy communities and collective local action
- Development of Business Model Framework (BMF) developed within the project adapted to each pilot context.
- Triggering 66 million Euro in sustainable energy investments / energy-related investments
- Engaging 10,000 consumers in sustainable energy activities