NESOI Plus – Island Outermost Regions

The EU's green transition is unfolding unevenly, particularly in peripheral and remote regions, such as mountain areas, inner peripheries, islands and the Outermost Regions. The latter often face significant challenges related to low economic growth, shrinking populations, and geographic isolation, making them more vulnerable to being left behind in the green and digital revolutions. The European Commission’s Communication published in May 2022 titled “Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s Outermost Regions”, sat a number of areas of priority for the outermost regions, among which the access to adequate and affordable electricity and the development of renewable energy. In this context, energy communities appear as an important opportunity for the decarbonation of outermost regions and a tool to accelerate the energy transition in these territories.

The main objective of NESOI+ is to create a pipeline of sustainable projects that are in line with the local context, with a view to facilitating access to funding and accelerating their implementation.
The specific objectives of the project are: to create a one-stop shop for islands, offering specialist services for the establishment of energy communities; to support 30 energy communities in the EU’s Outermost Regions in defining robust and sustainable investment plans, providing specialist support on technical, economic and business model aspects; to facilitate access to funding by accelerating project implementation; to increase the knowledge and skills of local stakeholders by fostering the development of robust initiatives; to create a broader and more collaborative network of European islands committed to promoting energy communities, involving local and regional authorities (LRAs) in peer-to-peer activities; and finally, to promote the expansion and growth of island energy community initiatives.

NESOI+ will establish a dedicated one-stop-shop to support the development of energy communities on islands, providing technical assistance and specialized expertise aimed at strengthening local capacities. By piloting these services in the Outermost Regions of the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Martinique, NESOI+ will foster the dissemination of energy communities by supporting a minimum of 30 initiatives and by structuring robust and effective investment pipelines. The process will commence with the development of an Investment Concept aligned with the requirements of investors and financial institutions. Then, based on public procedures constraints and projects specific characteristics, NESOI+ partners will meet potential investors presenting the pipeline and defining the most appropriate financial conditions. As an integral component of the initiative, the one-stop-shop will also serve as a platform for the exchange of best practices, provision of reference materials and tools, delivery of training activities, and facilitation of collaboration opportunities across the entire energy community project value chain.