About

Through the creation of multiple energy communities as pilot project, TANDEMS will develop and test models of cooperation between citizens, local governments and energy communities. In doing so, new ways of partnerships and collaboration methods will be explored and reviewed. Starting from a local level but throughout different regions in Europe will allow the TANDEMS project to build up a wide supporting framework for community energy, which can be widely replicated in the EU.

TANDEMS brings together multiple European regions, which share one goal: to empower and facilitate the participation of citizens in clean energy transition. The regions participating are: Province of Antwerp in Flanders (BELGIUM), Region of Achterhoek in province Gelderland (NETHERLANDS), Municipality of Burgas and Gabrovo (BULGARIA) and City of Vienna (AUSTRIA).

The cooperation between these regions brings to the project rich and extensive knowledge of different, locally based instruments, barriers and opportunities that are revelant for the creation of energy communities. With this knowledge TANDEMS can build a wide variety of models for setting up, training, implementing and running energy communities including collaboration and dialogue between various local actors such as municipalities, policy makers or citizens. TANDEMS also aims to use these models in pilot energy communities in order to test their effectiveness and obtain results accurate enough to develop reliable strategies for energy communities and citizen engagement.

The project aims to activate 67 community energy projects, support and/or create 23 citizen-led initiatives and trigger RES generation of 10.15 GWh/year.

Work packages

Work Package 1

Project management and coordination

Work Package 1 ensures the achievement of the project’s objectives. It combines an effective technical and administrative coordination with an efficient organisational and financial management. Work Package 1 focuses on :
1. Administration and management: financial management, risk review and management, and technical support
2. Coordination: internal communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, internal peer review
3. Verification and assurance: quality assurance, periodic review, verification and data management

Task 1.1 - Project Management

Work Package 2

Open collaboration model between local authorities and energy cooperatives

Work Package 2 will focus on:
1. Designing the blueprint of an open collaboration model for energy communities and identifying prominising opportunities in pilot regions.
2. Evaluating which financial instruments work best for clean energy investment.
3. Identifying tailor made business model proposals by regions/ municipalities involved in TANDEMS.
4. Developing impact monitoring and evaluation tools and provide practical guidance to energy communities on how to use those tools.

Task 2.1 - Designing a TANDEMS open
collaboration model
Task 2.2 - Business models and early stage financial and technical support
Task 2.3 - Impact monitoring and evaluation

Work Package 3

Testing TANDEMS - Implementation in pilot regions

Work Package 3 focuses on testing the models developed, pilot sites founded and scenarios identified in Work Package 2. It aims to set up viable and innovative energy community projects. In this work package, hands-on tools and practices will also be developed, gathered and combined to form comprehensive scripts/manuals, referring to the identifiable local conditions and value systems with extensive do’s and don’ts advice. Their effectiveness will be validated in the implementation of Energy Community projects.

Task 3.1 - Wind TANDEMS
Task 3.2 - Solar TANDEMS
Task 3.3 - Heating networks & Citizen-led renovation TANDEMS

Work Package 4

Strengthening and supporting citizen initiatives

Work Package 4 focuses on developing methods for multi-and transdisciplinary collaboration and implement them on pilot regions. It works on organising training workshops, produces generic and more tailored training guides and holds co-creation workshops. It also monitors and evaluates the engagement approaches in each of the pilots and develops innovative awareness campaigns.

Task 4.1 -
Training and capacity building
Task 4.2 - Promoting citizen participation in energy communities

Work Package 5

Regional and local policy framework

Work Package 5 focuses on creating a supportive local policy framework for the development of community energy projects and on facilitating a dialogue among different actors involved in community projects. It focuses on:
▪ Researching the potential of Energy Communities
▪ Engaging local stakeholders in a structured dialogue
▪ Ensuring proper integration of the developed policy recommendations
▪ Supporting the replication of TANDEMS policy recommendations within different national and European contexts

Task 5.1 -
Facilitation of a dialogue among different actors involved in community projects
Task 5.2 - Policy framework development in 3 countries

Work Package 6

Sustainability, replication and exploitation of project results

Work Package 6 hosts all actions related to maximising the project's impact. Its goal is to ensure the sustainability of the project outcomes, by creating awareness and interest in the project and its results among target groups. Work Package 6:

1. Defines TANDEMS models
2. Develops a Communication/Dissemination Strategy
3. Works with partners on pilot sites for dissemination of TANDEMS efforts and creates external awareness of the pilot projects
4. Creates a website and dissemination channels and tools

Task 6.1 -
Replicable models for TANDEMS & Exploitation plan in 3 countries and beyond
Task 6.2 - Communication - Dissemination Strategy and Hub set-up
Task 6.3 - Communication - Dissemination Materials, Events and Partner Support

Maro Saridaki, project coordinator

"We want to make sure that everything we develop through our projects reflects the needs of the citizens. Our motivation is to be the link between innovation and citizens. In TANDEMS we explore the special relationship that is between energy cooperatives and local municipalities."

About

Work packages

Work Package 1

Project management and coordination

Work Package 2

Open collaboration model between local authorities and energy cooperatives

Work Package 3

Testing TANDEMS - Implementation in pilot regions

Work Package 4

Strengthening and supporting citizen initiatives

Work Package 5

Regional and local policy framework

Work Package 6

Sustainability, replication and exploitation of project results

Project partners

Kamp C aims to strengthen the transition towards sustainable value chains in the building sector by fostering innovation, with circularity and the energy transition as key drivers.

DuneWorks is a social-science based SME, specialised in the societal aspects of the transition towards an inclusive and sustainable climate. We do this through research, advice, workshops, training and project management, with a variety of stakeholders, on different scales.

Agem is a non profit social enerprise, whose mission is to facilitate the energy transition in the Achterhoek region of Netherlands. It is active in the field of Energy Savings, Energy Production and Energy Supply.

Oikoplus specializes in issues related to sustainability, scientific research and innovative communication through spreading future oriented knowledge in an unconventional but relevant and understandable way.

Vito promotes sustainable development via scientifically underpinned advice and support using transition and transition management as their main points of focus.

ZuidtrAnt is a local energy cooperation in the southern region of the city of Antwerp. We invest in renewable energy and energy savings projects with the capital of our cooperants/ shareholders.

Burgas, situated on the Bulgarian coast, is the winner of the 2020 Transformative Cities in Energy Category for successfully carrying out a programme to reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions of multi-family appartments.

The city of Mechelen, heart of the River Region, is situated between Antwerp and Brussels and stands for an innovative city, biking, green, inclusive and climate neutrality.

Klimaan cvso is a Flemish energy cooperative focusing its activities on the Rivierenland region. Klimaan focuses on developing rooftop solar systems and e-carsharing while also supporting vulnerable people during the energy transition.

Gabrovo is a municipality in north-central Bulgaria, which won the European Green Leaf Award for 2021 for their investments in energy efficiency, citizen campaigns and urban development.

EnEffect Center for Energy Efficiency is the pioneer NGO in the field of sustainable energy in Bulgaria. We have 30 years of experience in policy support and practical application of EE solutions in buildings and industrial systems.