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The ACCE Project

Across Europe, more than 1.5 million citizens are actively involved in the energy transition. A common challenge many face is limited access to capital.

That’s where Project ACCE hopes to provide a solution: in devising financing solutions crafted to align with the specific requirements of community energy projects.

Our approach builds on the proven success of existing Community Energy Financing Schemes (CEFS), which have already been instrumental in bolstering energy communities throughout Europe.

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Benefits of energy communities

Energy communities are key drivers of sustainable development, delivering meaningful environmental, economic, and social benefits at the local level:

  • Environmental benefits: They contribute to the shift toward clean, inclusive, and resilient energy systems, supporting climate goals through decentralized renewable energy generation.
  • Economic benefits: By reinvesting value locally, energy communities boost regional economies, create jobs, and build long-term economic resilience - offering a sustainable alternative to centralised energy models.
  • Social benefits: Democratically governed, they place collective interest at the core, fostering social cohesion, active citizenship, and community empowerment in the energy transition.
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News & Events

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From Blueprint to Breakthrough: ACCE Final Conference Showcases the Power of Community Energy Financing

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ACCE-CONFERENCE

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Unlocking Community Energy Financing: Lessons from LIFE ACCE at EECF 2025

Toolbox

Whether you're part of a community energy project, a public or private
financing institution, or simply seeking to deepen your understanding,
our resource library offers a wealth of carefully curated tools and
materials.

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D7.5 Final publishable report

Our project Access to Capital for Community Energy (ACCE) is slowly coming to an end. Over the past three years, we worked with partners across Europe to test and scale Community Energy Financing Schemes (CEFS) — innovative tools that help citizens invest directly in renewable energy. The results are impressive: by mid-2024, CEFS had already mobilised €738 million for local solar, wind, and heating projects in seven countries. Along the way, we developed practical tools like the ACCE Toolbox, a Financial Handbook, and policy recommendations to make citizen-led finance more accessible. We have now summarised our insights, lessons learned, and case studies in the final publishable report. It highlights how CEFS can unlock billions in citizen capital and make Europe’s energy transition more democratic and resilient.

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ACCE Financial Handbook

This guide aims at facilitating the set-up of a CEFS. For doing so, it identifies the main barriers, and their resulting bottlenecks to set up a CEFS, and highlights solutions to overcome those barriers and transform obstacles into opportunities.

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RES Project Development Guide

In this guide, we identify the main types of CEFSs that energy communities could use. We also describe the key characteristics and and success factors of each of these CEFS.

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The ACCE project has received funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Union.

Disclaimer: The ACCE website reflects the views of the project partnership and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

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