Energy community business-plan grant
A €45,000 lump-sum grant and mandatory training to develop a new business plan for an energy community in 31 eligible European countries. The 2026 call is closed.
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The European Energy Communities Facility helps community-led energy projects become ready for investment. The grant supports a new business plan, including technical and financial assessments, feasibility studies, permits, legal agreements, community engagement, staff work and external expertise. It does not fund energy infrastructure such as panels or batteries, equipment unrelated to business-plan development such as laptops or vehicles, or fossil-fuel-based technologies.
Each selected community receives €45,000 as a lump sum. This means the Facility checks delivery of the required plan, training and monitoring rather than reimbursing individual invoices. The first €22,500 is paid within 60 days of signing the grant agreement. The second €22,500 follows submission and validation of the plan and completion of monitoring questionnaires; the published schedule allows up to one year after plan submission, no later than summer 2028.
Complete the online learning programme and provide its certificate with the business plan. Attend at least one webinar in each of the three series: using the financial model, developing a funding pitch and overcoming implementation barriers. Use the Facility’s business-plan templates; the plan can be in the national language but must include an English executive summary. The plan and training must be completed within six months of grant signature.
National experts can advise communities but cannot be hired to write their applications or business plans. Other external expertise is allowed. A properly developed plan may conclude that the proposed project is not feasible: the FAQ says this brings no repercussions where the community followed the required steps with genuine effort. Progress on implementation is not a condition for the second payment, but completing the monitoring survey is.
Eligibility
The applicant must be the energy community itself, already registered as a legal entity with a personality separate from its members and established and operating in an EU Member State, Iceland, Moldova, North Macedonia or Ukraine. Informal groups and entities applying on behalf of a community still being set up do not qualify. Provide official proof such as a registry extract, regulator registration or officially stamped statutes; unstamped statutes are not accepted.
The community must meet either the EU renewable-energy-community or citizen-energy-community definition, including its activities, membership, open and voluntary participation, effective control and community-benefit purpose. A renewable energy community works with renewable electricity or heating and is controlled by participants near its projects; membership covers individuals, small and medium-sized businesses and local authorities, with energy not their primary economic activity. A citizen energy community works in the electricity sector and can have a wider membership, provided energy is not members’ main economic activity, but control must rest with individuals, local authorities or small enterprises, with restrictions on decision-making by large commercial energy actors. The primary aim must be environmental, economic or social community benefit rather than financial profit.
An organisation originally set up for another purpose can qualify if it meets those requirements. An existing community can seek a new business plan for a new activity, but the Facility does not fund improving an existing plan for the same project. National energy-community recognition alone does not establish compliance; explain the actual arrangements in the application.
Only one application per community was allowed in each call. Unsuccessful eligible first-round applicants could apply again, but communities already awarded a first-round grant were excluded from the second call. Commit to the training, questionnaires and eligible use of the grant through the Facility’s signed letter-of-commitment template.
How to apply
- Estado
- cerrada
- Abre
- Cierra
- Condiciones de la convocatoria
- The 2026 call is closed.
No calls are currently open. The second round opened on 5 May 2026 and closed on 5 July 2026. Applications used the Facility portal: create an account, complete the eligibility self-check, then provide the application and supporting documents. Answers must be in English; the legal-entity proof may be in the national language. An unsigned commitment letter or use of a different template disqualifies the application.
Evaluation considers community readiness and governance, project ambition, practical feasibility and local benefit. Applicants needed at least 15 of 25 points and the minimum under every criterion; selection remained competitive within the relevant high- or low-uptake country group. National experts check feasibility in the local context.
Selected communities have two weeks after notification to return their Beneficiary Identification Form; failure passes the grant to the reserve list. They then have two weeks from receiving the grant agreement to sign it. Complete the plan, training and monitoring obligations to receive the full grant.