REVE 2019, the European Meeting of Citizen Energies took place in Redon in June. All the stakeholders of citizen projects of renewable energies gathered to share experiences and reflect on the future of the movement.
As expected, the REVE event offered a perfect demonstration of the growing dynamics of renewable energy projects carried by citizens and communities. This event owed its success to the 400 participants who registered for two or three days, among them:
- 160 citizen project owners
- 80 councillors, territorial officers and institutional stakeholders
- 80 members of regional networks and of the association ‘Energie Partagée’
- 80 shareholders of the citizen financing body ’Énergie Partagée investissement’
- 60 European partners representing 6 countries of North West Europe
REVE 2019 – its key messages
- Renewable energy projects carried by citizens and communities are growing by numbers but are still facing administrative regulations and complex procedures hindering an exponential development.
- Énergie Partagée, together with Enercoop and the work group for citizen energies issued, during the REVE event, an appeal to policy makers that was published by ‘Alternatives économiques’, Transition énergétique citoyenne, il est temps d’agir. (Energy transition carried by citizens, high time for action)
- EU recognizes the energy communities as being an efficient control of the local stakeholders supplying energy services. This is a crucial opportunity to make the national government respect the European guidelines and put in place a genuine national strategy of renewable energy projects carried by citizens and communities.
- Energy saving actions, energetic renovation of buildings as well as sustainable mobility are also taken into account by the citizen energy movement. Several workshops allowed to put forward and to reflect on the actions of production companies in the energy transition on a larger scale.
REVE in figures…
- 1 plenary conference attended by over 235 participants
- 1 ‘négaWatt’ conference attended by 100 participants
- 1 premiere of the film on the first citizen wind turbine of the world built in Denmark in the 1970’s: an inspiration source! (subtitles by Energie Partagée) To see the film, click on ici
- 10 excursions, 2 of them by bike
- 35 workshops (average participation: 30 per workshop) with 70 speakers
- 5 workshops and plenary conference video-transmitted on Internet
Flashback on highlights of REVE 2019
Day 1: opening conference and round table discussion
250 participants at the REVE opening conference that offered a discussion on the place citizens and communities occupy in energy transition. The plenary conference dealt with all levels of action: local actions with Christel Sauvage (‘Agence Locale de l’énergie 08’ and board member of ’Energie Partagée’) and Jean-François Carron, Mayor of Loos-en Gohelle; the European context with Dirk Vansintjan, president of the European federation Rescoop.eu; the national context with scientist Andreas Rüdinger specialised in participative and citizen owned renewable energy projects, as well as oceanographer Laurent Labeyrie.
The plenary conference ended with an appeal launched by ‘Energie Partagée’ and its partners to the French government, asking them to put in place a genuine national strategy of renewable energy carried by citizens in order to achieve the goal of 15% renewable energy projects carried by citizens and communities by 2030.
Day 2: interactive workshops, anniversary visit to Bégawatts and General Assembly of the association Énergie Partagée
Launch of Kerwatt, to enhance the creation of PV projects in Brittany
European meeting of citizen energy: a perfect occasion to officially launch Kerwatt! Project owners of solar power in Brittany organised to set up a regional citizen company to mutualise projects, risks, tools, and share ideas…!
The three founders ‘E-Ker’, ‘Dol’Watt’, and ‘Etoile Solaire’ are currently developing more than 5 solar projects. They are supported by Energies Citoyennes en Pays de Vilaine, SISER, and the municipality of La Chapelle de Brain, all three being founding members as well.
This new structure has the following objectives:
- development, financing, construction, installation, operation, facilitation and technical operation monitoring of the production sites of renewable energy (PV)
- sale of the energy production
- promotion of renewable energies and energy saving actions through organisation of training sessions, seminars, conferences or events for a large public
Day 3: more workshops, general assembly of Énergie Partagée Investissement, and many pleasant moments
What a perfect occasion to hold general assemblies during this European event! The members of Energie Partagée and Energie Partagée Investissement could benefit of the exchanges taking place during these days and get a global vision of the stakes and the diversity of actions in the field of renewable energies carried by citizens.
For the shareholders of Energie Partagée, it was a golden opportunity to reinforce the bond between their investment and the renewable energy projects that become reality partly thanks to Enrgie Partagée Investissement.
Before we come together for another REVE event in a couple of years, renewable energy projects carried by citizens and communities still need your support. Our next appointment will be that of the first ‘Assises nationales de l’énergie citoyenne’ (National Conference of citizen energy) held by the governmental body ‘Ademe’ on 10 December 2019 in Montpellier, with Énergie Partagée and EC’LR network as partners. For more details go to the website of ADEME.
This is the result of the cooperation between Énergies citoyennes en Pays de Vilaine and Énergie Partagée, in connection with the European Interreg program ECCO. A perfect opportunity to reinforce the relations between local stakeholders and stakeholders from all over France! On the whole, 12 EPV employees and 20 volunteers, 20 Énergie Partagée employees and 20 regional facilitators who participated in the preparation of the program and organisation of logistics during the event.
Of course, the organisers paid great attention to the valorisation of the local economy: they estimate that the benefits for the economy of the territory of Redon are about 100.000 to 120.000 euros.
