Challenge
Across Europe, Energy Communities (ECs) are recognised as powerful drivers of the energy transition. Yet islands and outermost regions face persistent barriers that hinder their development: geographic isolation, limited access to technical expertise, fragmented regulatory frameworks, and difficulty attracting investment. Despite their strong potential for renewable energy uptake, many islands lack the tools, financing pathways and organisational support needed to turn community driven initiatives into bankable clean energy projects.
NESOIplus addresses this challenge by bridging the capacity, regulatory and financial gaps that prevent island communities from developing and scaling Energy Community projects aligned with EU Green Deal objectives.
Applied expertise
NESOIplus builds on the success of the H2020 NESOI project, offering a next generation One Stop Shop tailored to the specific needs of Outermost Regions (Canary Islands, Azores and Martinique). The project introduces:
- A strengthened digital platform for Energy Communities: enhancements to the NESOI digital infrastructure provide services such as smart matchmaking, crowdfunding support, e learning, embeddable conversational assistance, and a full transaction component to guide users from concept development to financing.
- Two open calls supporting 30 Energy Community projects: open calls select and assist 30 initiatives in the three pilot regions, using clear eligibility and evaluation criteria adapted to local regulatory and socio economic contexts.
- Tailored technical assistance and investment concept development: dedicated support teams help beneficiaries create investment ready concepts, aligning technical design, business models and financial planning with the expectations of public and private investors. This includes economic financial analysis, business model selection, and technical feasibility assessment.
- Capacity building, peer learning and study tours: study tours, workshops and targeted training activities help local actors strengthen skills, exchange best practices and improve project readiness, addressing the knowledge gaps typical of remote territories.
- Strong regulatory and policy focus: a systematic analysis of local frameworks and barriers, combined with policy recommendations and structured stakeholder engagement, supports long term enabling conditions for ECs in Outermost Regions.
Conclusion
NESOIplus accelerates the emergence of sustainable, investment ready Energy Communities in island Outermost Regions by combining digital innovation, technical support, capacity building and policy alignment. Through its One Stop Shop and hands on assistance, the project creates replicable and scalable models that strengthen local ownership of the energy transition, unlock access to financing, and build long term capabilities at regional and community level. Ultimately, NESOIplus contributes to a more resilient, inclusive and decentralised clean energy landscape across EU islands.
Project Consortium
The NESOIplus consortium brings together expert organisations from across Europe, combining technical, financial, regulatory and regional competencies needed to support Energy Communities in Outermost Regions. Partners include:
- Sinloc SpA (Coordinator, Italy) — project coordination, investment concepts, financial structuring
- CERTH (Greece) — digital platform leadership, data & analytics
- R2M Solutions (Italy) — business models, platform development, capacity building
- RINA Consulting (Italy) — technical feasibility assessment and support
- Zabala Innovation & Zabala Brussels (Spain/Belgium) — communication, evaluation, open call management
- CRPM (France) — policy work, replication strategy, stakeholder engagement
- SRTMI (Portugal) — regional coordination in the Azores
- ITC (Spain) — regional coordination in the Canary Islands
- CTM (France) — regional coordination in Martinique
- FEDARENE (Belgium, Associated Partner) — EU networks and knowledge transfer
Together, these organisations create a multidisciplinary team capable of delivering high quality technical assistance, digital services, financial modelling and policy support to island communities seeking to develop clean energy projects.
