Apply for a €45,000 grant to develop a business plan for your community energy project
The European Energy Communities Facility has just launched its second call for proposals. From now until 5 July, emerging energy communities from the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Moldova, North Macedonia and Ukraine can apply for a lump sum grant of €45,000 to develop a robust business plan for their project. Moreover, if your application is successful, you will have access to national peer-to-peer exchanges and a capacity building programme to support you in developing and implementing the business plan. In this call, the Facility will distribute over €3 million among 71 initiatives. These projects are expected to trigger around €60 million in private investments, fostering a fair, democratic and sustainable energy transition in Europe.
The grant can cover all activities needed for the development of a business plan for an energy community project, including technical and financial assessments, legal and administrative procedures, and other pre-development tasks such as feasibility studies. Infrastructure investments and projects based on fossil fuel technologies are not eligible for this grant.
While the main objective of the call is to help emerging energy communities secure the financing required to bring their project to life and professionalise their activities, already established energy communities aiming to explore new services can also apply. Independent experts will assess the energy community’s operations and readiness, its project ambition, the coherence and plausibility of the proposal, and the impact on the local community.
What changes from the first call for proposals?
The main novelty of this call is the introduction of a mechanism to ensure a fairer distribution of grants across eligible countries. Specifically, we will award at least one grant per country across the two calls combined, as long as applicants pass the minimum threshold for being selected. This will complement the division into two region categories based on the legal framework for energy communities in each country already applied in the first call for proposals.
Another change is the inclusion of the concept of ‘pioneering in the local context’ as an assessment criterion. Thus, if you are the first energy community using a particular technology or a social model in your local area, you should emphasise it in your application.
This second call is also a chance for applicants who weren’t successful in the first call to resubmit their proposal. We strongly encourage you to apply again but make sure you update the proposal where necessary in line with the changes in the call.
How to apply?
The only requirements to apply are to be registered as a legal entity, comply with one of the EU definitions for energy communities, be based in an eligible country, and commit to follow up on the grant obligations. You can use our eligibility self-check to find out whether you are eligible.
Are you ready to take your community energy project to the next level? Check out the call document and guidelines for applicants to discover all the details of the call and apply now!
To guide you through the process, we are organising an online info session in English on 6 May 2026, during which we will provide clear, step-by-step guidelines to apply. Secure your spot now! In addition to this webinar, national info sessions in the local language will be organised across eligible countries. Keep an eye on our events page to find yours.
In addition to the Europe-wide info session, a national information session for Ukraine will also take place on 15 May 2026 in Ukrainian. Registration in advance is required in order to receive the link to join.
