FROM AND FOR LOCAL AND DECENTRAL ENERGY INITIATIVES
The number of local and decentralised sustainable energy initiatives is growing. Large and small, idealistic and commercial, highly developed and in an early stage. What they have in common is that local parties, citizens, companies and institutions are taking their energy management into their own hands. This is often more sustainable, sometimes more fun and perhaps also cheaper than traditional central energy supply. For the participants, energy is no longer an abstract concept, but a concrete reality that they work with every day. The earth of decentralised initiatives is large. The transition to a sustainable energy management cannot be achieved without these initiatives.
There is no lack of ambition and enthusiasm. Yet only a few frontrunners have succeeded in realising a successful project. Many initiatives fail due to a lack of knowledge, uncertainty regarding financing and obstacles in legislation and regulations. These are always the same obstacles. Sometimes there is a lack of technical knowledge, but often there is a lack of knowledge to transform an initiative into a viable company. Business models often do not fit into the traditional working and thinking methods of banks. Legislation and regulations are designed for central energy supply but offer no solace for decentralised initiatives. There is a huge drive from the bottom up to tackle the energy supply differently, but practice is stubborn.
In order to tackle these bottlenecks and challenges, e-Decentraal was founded in June 2011. e-Decentraal is the Association Federation of Decentralized Sustainable Energy Netherlands. An initiative by and for local and decentralized sustainable energy initiatives. By working together, sharing knowledge and setting up a joint lobby, it is possible to take a step further. Then decentralized sustainable energy initiatives will get off the ground faster and stronger and an effective mouthpiece will be created for the press, politics and central government. On October 3, e-Decentraal entered into a Green Deal with the government. The minister hereby acknowledges that e-Decentraal is the national mouthpiece for decentralized sustainable energy initiatives. Click here for the press release about this Green Deal.
The objectives of e-Decentraal
e-Decentraal promotes, accelerates and strengthens decentralised sustainable energy initiatives. e-Decentraal is the trade association for organisations that contribute to this goal. Enthusiastic people, organisations and companies with concrete proposals for sustainable energy management at local/decentralised level join forces in e-Decentraal.
The vision of the future of e-Decentraal is simple. e-Decentraal wants that in 2020
…decentralised sustainable energy initiatives can be realised in an efficient and effective manner.
… the strong lobby from e-Decentraal has been successful. The financial sector and the government see e-Decentraal as the point of contact for issues that concern the decentralized sustainable energy initiatives.
…there are no institutional barriers to a more decentralised system in legislation and regulations and in the financing of projects.
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What will e-Decentraal do?
e-Decentraal combines the forces of companies, organisations, institutions and individuals who want to realise a decentralised sustainable energy supply. We want to promote, accelerate and strengthen these initiatives. We do this by exchanging knowledge and promoting cooperation. In this way, new initiators can learn from successful projects and avoid mistakes. By working together, sharing knowledge and setting up a joint lobby, it is possible to take a step further.
The members of e-Decentraal are the driving forces behind the decentralised sustainable energy initiatives and the coalitions that result from them. The members have unique knowledge of the local situation, of local energy demand and supply possibilities and, more importantly, of the local social networks and culture. That is good and it should remain that way. e-Decentraal does not perform tasks that can be better done locally and decentrally (subsidiarity). e-Decentraal only focuses on common issues: removing institutional barriers that stand in the way of many initiatives. At the moment, these are legislation and regulations, financing and professionalisation.
In various working groups, stakeholders work together on these themes .
