A main objective of the RoundBaltic project is to provide framework and catalyst for energy efficiency investments, incl. creating dialogue and enabling actions around the Smart Finance for Smart Buildings initiative and the financial pillars. The direct target countries are Poland, Latvia and Denmark, building on the activities of the Sustainable Energy Investment Forums initiative. The action will develop a supporting framework with activities such as 1) analysing the possibility to upscale existing best practices, develop strategies, roadmaps and action plans, 2) propose improvements in the national policy frameworks and measures, and 3) develop jointly template documents and contracts for a better functioning of the market, and will implement Roundtables where stakeholders can learn from successful initiatives, and can provide input into the policy making. The consortium will pursue a combined approach of addressing the national level (framework conditions) and regional level (topics of relevance for the given regions). Additionally, the project will develop enabling actions aiming to generate sustainable energy investments within the targeted energy efficiency areas of the call and will undertake in-depth evaluation of the impact gained as well as lessons learned of the operations in each target country. It will also provide networking and experience exchange among the stakeholders in each country as well as among the target countries where it makes sense. The project findings and achievements will be disseminated to relevant target groups, incl. other Baltic countries. Moreover, a small share of activities will be reserved to exchange with similar roundtables across Europe (coordinated by the Commission services).

The overall objective of WinWind is to enhance the socially inclusive and environmentally sound market uptake of wind energy by increasing its social acceptance in 'wind energy scarce regions' (WESR). The specific objectives are: screening, analysing, discussing, replicating, testing & disseminating feasible solutions for increasing social acceptance and thereby the uptake of wind energy. The proposal considers from a multidisciplinary perspective the case of WESR in DE, ES, IT, LV, PL and NO. These selected countries represent a variety of realities ranging from large (but with WESR) to very scarce wind energy penetration. WinWind analyses regional and local communities´ specificities, socioeconomic, spatial & environmental characteristics and the reasons for slow market deployment in the selected target regions. Best practices to overcome the identified obstacles are assessed and – where feasible – transferred. The operational tasks are taken up by national/regional desks consisting of the project partners, market actors and stakeholders in each country. The project´s objectives will be reached by: i) analysing the inhibiting and driving factors for acceptance, ii) developing a taxonomy of barriers to identify similarities and differences in development patterns , iii) carrying out stakeholder dialogues in all participating regions, iv) developing acceptance-promoting measures that are transferable to specific local, regional and national contexts, and v) transferring feasible best practice solutions via learning labs. WinWind develops concrete solutions. The activities focus on novel informal/voluntary procedural participation of communities, direct and indirect financial participation & benefit sharing. Finally, policy lessons with validity across Europe are drawn and recommendations proposed. Already 62 stakeholders and market actors provided letters of support showing their commitment in supporting the WindWind activities and in implementing useful results.

THERMOS (Thermal Energy Resource Modelling and Optimisation System) will develop the methods, data, and tools to enable public authorities and other stakeholders to undertake more sophisticated thermal energy system planning far more rapidly and cheaply than they can today. This will amplify and accelerate the development of new low carbon heating and cooling systems across Europe, and enable faster upgrade, refurbishment and expansion of existing systems. The project will realise these benefits at the strategic planning level (quantification of technical potential, identification of new opportunities) and at the project level (optimisation of management and extension of existing and new systems). These outcomes will be achieved through: a) Development of address-level heating and cooling energy supply and demand maps, initially for the four Pilot Cities, and subsequently for the four Replication partners - establishing a standard method and schema for high resolution European energy mapping, incorporating a wide range of additional spatial data needed for modelling and planning of thermal energy systems, and their interactions with electrical and transport energy systems; b) Design and implementation of fast algorithms for modelling and optimising thermal systems, incorporating real-world cost, benefit and performance data, and operating both in wide area search, and local system optimisation contexts; c) Development of a free, open-source software application integrating the spatial datasets with the search and system optimisation algorithms (trialled and tested through the public authorities representing four Pilot Cities); d) Supporting implementation of the energy system mapping methodology, and subsequently the use of the THERMOS software, with a further four Replication Cities/Regions, from three more EU Member States; e) Comprehensive dissemination of mapping outputs and free software tools, targeting public authorities and wider stakeholders across Europe.

COME RES aims to facilitate the market uptake of RES in the electricity sector by supporting, with a set of specific activities, the implementation of the provisions for renewable energy communities (RECs) as defined in the new Renewable Energy Directive to be transposed in 2021. Taking a multi- and transdisciplinary approach, COME RES aids the development of RECs in nine European countries (BE, DE, IT, LV, NL, NO, PL, PT, SP). It covers different socio-technological systems including community PV, wind (onshore), storage and integrated solutions. The countries selected range from pioneers that have gained broad experience of community energy (CE) to countries that are just beginning to look at CE. COME RES analyses legal, socioeconomic, spatial and environmental characteristics, and the reasons for the slow deployment of RECs in selected target regions. Stakeholder desks consisting of the project partners and committed community, market and policy actors in each country take on the operational tasks. Both overall and specific objectives will be reached by i) analysing the potentials, barriers and drivers for RECs in the target regions, ii) carrying out stakeholder dialogues, iii) developing regional action plans and business-model proposals for target regions, iv) examining good/best practice cases that are transferable to specific local, regional and national contexts, v) initiating transfers of best practice solutions via policy labs supported by capacity development and training and vi) developing a renewable energy community platform. The consortium synchronises project activities with the transposition/implementation of the Clean Energy Package and its provisions for RECs in policy labs. Policy lessons with validity across Europe will be drawn and recommendations proposed. Over 85 stakeholders and market actors have provided letters of support expressing their commitment to support the project and implement its results.