[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6551\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ECutting out the middleman in renewable energy\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px;\u0022\u003E\u2018People have an increased need for alternative investment and that\u2019s what leads them there,\u2019 said Nuno Brito Jorge, chief executive of Portuguese renewable energy company Boa Energia. \u2018But they also want to know they are doing something good with their own money.\u2019\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchemes that directly connect people who want to invest with the innovation they\u2019re funding are particularly suited to renewable energy projects, which can struggle to access financing from traditional sources. This is because they often require too much money to get a loan from a bank without having a track record, but too little money to be of interest to an investment fund, who may not find it worth their while performing the required due diligence.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBrito Jorge runs the EU-funded Citizenergy project, which is aiming to make crowdfunding in sustainable energy simpler and more visible by setting up a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.citizenergy.eu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Ewebsite\u003C\/a\u003E that matches projects in need of funding with people who have money to invest.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe site aggregates details of projects that are looking for funding and allows people to search by area of interest, country and type of investment. It also allows people to share their experiences and review projects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@aligncenter@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022People who invest in sustainable energy through crowdfunding platforms like Citizenergy can also go and see their projects in action. Image courtesy of Boa Energia\u0022 height=\u0022555\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/Investors_Boa%20Energia.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022People who invest in sustainable energy through crowdfunding platforms like Citizenergy can also go and see their projects in action. Image courtesy of Boa Energia\u0022 width=\u0022960\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EPeople who invest in sustainable energy through crowdfunding platforms like Citizenergy can also go and see their projects in action. Image courtesy of Boa Energia\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Our idea was to create one common platform where citizens from any part of Europe could identify and invest or engage in sustainable energy projects in any other part of Europe,\u2019 said Brito Jorge. \u2018We want to be the TripAdvisor of citizen investment.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECross-border funding\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe site also allows you to filter projects by the country that your funding will be coming from. At the moment this is a vital step because of differences in crowdfunding regulation between EU Member States which mean that, for example, Portuguese crowdfunding platforms can take investors from any European country, while French platforms can only take France-based investors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThomas Maidonis, from WIP Renewable Energies in Germany and coordinator of another EU-funded project, CrowdFundRES, says that there are huge differences across the EU when it comes to the popularity of crowdfunding.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The UK is the most developed and the most mature (market). It counts for more than 80 % of the crowdfunding amounts (across) Europe, and then France, Germany and the Netherlands follow. It is getting spread little by little to other countries. We really believe that this will change in the coming years.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018We want to be the TripAdvisor of citizen investment.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003ENuno Brito Jorge, Boa Energia, Portugal\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECrowdFundRES is looking at ways of increasing this type of financing, focusing particularly on legal and regulatory challenges. The lack of harmonisation which limits cross-border investment is one issue they\u2019re investigating. Another is the fact that some national regulators have ceilings on the amount of money that can be crowdfunded \u2013 usually lower than a sustainable energy project would need.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project has produced guidelines for founders of crowdfunding platforms and sustainable energy project developers to facilitate better understanding and decision-making, and a guide setting out what investors should know before getting involved is also under development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECooperatives\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother model growing in popularity is the renewable energy cooperative (REScoop), which allows people to buy a share in a project, such as a wind turbine or solar farm, get returns on their investment and sometimes even personally use the energy that is generated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday there are around 3 000 such cooperatives in the EU, mostly based in western and northern Europe. Some consist of only a handful of people while others are larger \u2013 Belgium\u2019s Ecopower, for example, has 50 000 members.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, Daan Creupelandt from the European Federation of Renewable Energy Cooperatives \u2013 a membership organisation representing around half the cooperatives in the EU \u2013 believes that the sector faces rapid growth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cimg style=\u0022float: left;\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/Renewable%20energy%20factoid_3.jpg\u0022 width=\u0022400\u0022 height=\u0022239\u0022\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Today our members represent around 650 000 EU citizens who have already made investments. The total investment is about EUR 2 billion and they are producing about 1 gigawatt hour of energy on an annual basis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018By 2050, about half of EU citizens could be producing renewable energy themselves, either individually with solar panels on the roof but also in collective projects such as cooperatives.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOften the motivation for people to get involved in this way is ideological, but there are also financial benefits, says Creupelandt, because unlike energy companies, the primary aim is not to maximise profits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Today we see that there are lots of other citizens joining the cooperatives because they are often much cheaper than other suppliers,\u2019 he said. \u2018Ecopower is not a company that wants to maximise profits, for instance. Although they are a renewable energy supplier, they also want their members to save energy. Most utilities sell electricity and they want to maximise their profits and maximise consumption.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bit.ly\/newsalertsignup\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/news-alert-final.jpg\u0022 width=\u0022983\u0022 height=\u0022222\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003ECreupelandt is involved in the REScoop MECISE project, an EU-funded initiative to make the financing of these cooperatives easier. One idea that they are working to establish is a revolving fund whereby established cooperatives, who generally raise more money than they need, can lend funds to new cooperatives for their first project, where finance is harder to come by.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px;\u0022\u003EThey are also working to strengthen links between local authorities and renewable energy cooperatives, and to encourage investment in energy efficiency.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIf you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022moreinfoblock\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ch3\u003EThe Issue\u003C\/h3\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EThe world needs to reduce its reliance on fossil fuel-based energy if it is to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions and rein in global warming.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo help with this, the EU has set a target of at least 20 % of energy consumption coming from renewables by 2020.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMany countries are well on track for this. Last year, Portugal ran for four days straight on renewable energy, while for one day Germany got almost all of its energy from renewable sources.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-9nxttco6zyytmbn7mupczp2d6pbb03avfay8vclvceg\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-9nXTtCo6zYYtmBN7mUPCZP2D6pbB03AVFay8vcLVcEg\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]