6 February 2025: Research Meets Policy Workshop: “Energy Communities: Tracking Progress & Ambitions”, in Bruxelles, Belgium

On February 6, 2025, in the afternoon at the Fondation Universitaire in Brussels the DemandFlex project organized an insightful workshop uniting researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders to explore the evolving role of energy communities in Belgium’s electricity market.

Energy communities are meant to empower citizens to drive the clean energy transition, making renewables more accessible, lowering energy costs, and improving the functioning of the grid. They aim at strengthening public support for renewable projects and attract private investments, reshaping energy systems from the ground up. Yet, the question arises whether energy communities actually achieve or have the potential to achieve those ambitious aims. This question was at the core of the workshop.

The workshop featured an opening speech by Elise Viadere, followed by two panel discussions moderated by Professor Estelle Cantillon and Professor Pierre Henneaux, and concluding remarks by Professor Emmanuel Slautsky. The event concluded with a networking reception.

Key points of the opening speech are summarised in the framing document of the workshop available here: Framing document “Energy communities: Tracking progress and ambitions” 

The key takeaways from the workshop discussions were summarised in a policy recommendation document available here: Policy recommendations: Striking the right balance for energy communities

The members of the DemandFlex project want to thank everyone who participated in the workshop. The engagement, insights, and exchanges made this event a truly enriching discussion on the evolving role of energy communities in the electricity market.