The 'Agri-food and retail SMEs Renewable Energy Communities’ (SMP-COSME-2024-REC-01) call for proposals aims to support the creation of local/regional renewable energy communities (RECs) in the EU, integrating local agri-food and retail SMEs. It aims to contribute to reducing and stabilising the energy costs of the SME members of such RECs. Support will be given by providing advisory and consulting services that facilitate the creation of RECs.

The estimated available call budget is €2,900,000 for 3 projects with a duration of 24 months. The deadline for the call is 20 February 2025.

Objectives

This call for proposals aims to support the creation of local/regional renewable energy communities (RECs) across the EU integrating local Agri-food and Retail SMEs. The creation of these RECs will contribute to reducing and stabilising the energy costs of their SME members. Support will be given by providing advisory and consulting services that facilitate the creation of RECs but may not be available to SMEs in the agri-food and retail sectors. This could be due to insufficient regional consulting / advisory capacity, or because of inaccessible prices for small companies. To achieve these objectives, consortia selected through this call for proposals shall themselves organise one or more calls for expressions of interest for third party support. These calls shall offer legal and technical advisory and consulting services in order to support projects aimed at establishing RECs with agri-food and retail SMEs. These services shall be provided directly by the members of the consortium and/or through a voucher system (described in more detail in Activity 2) for more specific local services.

Themes and priorities (scope)

This call for proposals covers the following themes:

• Increasing the use of renewable energy sources

• Reducing the exposure of agri-food and retail SMEs to high energy costs

• Reducing emissions in the agri-food and retail sectors

• Supporting the establishment of renewable energy communities including agrifood and retail SMEs

Projects funded under this call will be expected to:

• Launch calls for expressions of interest for third party support

• Contact relevant agri-food and/or retail SMEs in order to raise awareness of the opportunities under this action

• Provide expertise and advisory services on renewable energy to local agrifood and retail SMEs interested in applying for third party support

• Provide advice on how to set up a renewable energy community in terms of legal, technical and practical requirements, including financial and business aspects and engage with municipalities / local authorities / regional authorities in order to establish cooperation to provide local support required by REC projects.

• Monitor and demonstrate the overall impact of the individual projects

Activities that can be funded (scope)

The proposal must address all the activities listed below and must include these deliverables in their project application but may add additional ones where needed

Activity 1: Supporting the establishment of RECs through calls for expressions of interest for third party support

1. Set up one or more calls for expressions of interest for third party support. The first call shall be published within the first four months after the signature of the Grant Agreement.

2. A detailed list of the projects and recipients of support services selected under the call(s) for third-party support, including the individual REC project budgets. This will be provided after the evaluation of each call for expressions of interest for third party support.

Activity 2: Providing technical assistance and financial support to the selected beneficiaries of REC projects

1. A detailed list of the expertise provided and the beneficiaries.

2. A detailed account of the vouchers provided, the services or resources obtained, the recipients, and the impact generated. This should include clear numerical indicators.

Activity 3: Communicating and disseminating results and best practices

1. A detailed list of the communication and dissemination activities that have been carried out, e.g. linked to the call for proposals, project results, the Citizen Energy Advisory Hub, the European Energy Network or the European Clusters Collaboration Platform.

Activity 4: Managing the project

Eligibility

In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:

− be legal entities (public or private bodies)

− be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:

• EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))

• non-EU countries: − listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Single Market Programme or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature

Typically eligible applicants can be:

Enterprise Europe Network host organisations, umbrella organisations specialising in renewable energy communities, specialised consultancy/advisory organisations, organisations representing local authorities and other organisations with competencies relevant for this call for proposals.

Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register — before submitting the proposal — and will have to be validated by the Central Validation Call: Agri-food and retail SMEs – renewable energy communities – V 1.0 28.11.2024 17 Service (REA Validation). For the validation, they will be requested to upload documents showing legal status and origin.

Other entities may participate in other consortium roles, such as associated partners, subcontractors, third parties giving in-kind contributions, etc.

Please find more information on the dedicated websites: F&T portal and the EISMEA website.