Energy communities are a promising option for increasing renewable energy production, improving energy security, and strengthening local communities. For the green transition in the Baltic Sea Region, local authorities, SMEs and citizens/interest groups need to raise their capacity on how to establish and operate sustainable energy communities. This requires a diverse skillset of understanding technical, social and economic challenges and opportunities that energy communities provide.

For this, the local actors need compiled information and good pilot examples to build trust in energy community models. StartSun project will tackle the start-up challenge of establishing five energy communities by creating the necessary research-based knowledge, and documentation for each country. First experience-pilots that can serve as role models for further creation of energy communities in BSR, using the locally available resources, serving its greater energy independence in electricity sector and keeping jobs in the communities.

With the help of Interreg, the StartSun project aims to help BSR countries to overcome the energy community start up gap, providing easy to follow Start-Up package for establishing energy communities. The project will pilot five different types of energy communities through research-based methods, and exchange experience between them to strengthen and speed up creation of energy communities in the BSR.