CrowdFundRES:a new opportunity for financing renewable energy projects

We are currently seeing a deceleration of renewable energy growth in Europe. This is partly attributed to the challenges for financing renewable energy projects. Reduced access to conventional financing options over the past few years has triggered innovative financing schemes to emerge, with crowdfunding attracting a lot of attention. The project CrowdFundRES recognises the vast potential of crowdfunding for financing renewable energy projects and brings together the three following target groups: renewable energy project developers, citizen investing their savings in renewable energy projects and crowdfunding platforms acting as intermediaries between the public and the project developers. The overall objective of the CrowdFundRES project is to contribute to the acceleration of the renewable energy growth in Europe by unleashing the potential of crowdfunding for financing renewable energy projects. In order to achieve this, the work has been structured for achieving the following objectives: Gain a deep understanding of the public’s perception of crowdfunding Analyse the challenges faced by the application of crowdfunding for renewable energy projects in Europe Develop guidelines that support accepted practices in crowdfunding renewable energy projects Apply the guidelines and review them based on practical experience Develop policy recommendations to improve the market and regulatory framework Promote the crowdfunding concept and its advantages among those who could contribute or raise fundsThe CrowdFundRES project is a European project, co-financed by the European Commission under H2020 Programme.The project started on 1st February 2015 and will end on 31st January 2018. It involves 14 partners across 6 different European Countries representing the relevant stakeholders in the field of crowdfunding for renewable energy projects. The European Crowdfunding Network and four of the most active crowdfunding platforms in RES project in Europe are involved: Abundance, Green Crowding, Lumo and OnePlanetCrowd. 3 project developers REG, BNRG Renewables andValorem, are also involved in the project. The consortium is completed by Solar Power Europe, the University of Dundee, Osborne Clarke (multinational law firm expert in Crowdfunding), GLOBAL 2000 (association which represents developersof projects with high untapped crowdfunding potential and a network of citizens sensitive to environmental issues) and youris.com, leader in the dissemination and communication of the leading-edge European innovation via TV media and the web. The project is coordinated by WIP – Renewable Energies.The EU PVSEC will represent a unique opportunity to get informed about the results achieved during the CrowdFundRES project in terms of innovative business models for projects financing and, at the same time, providing instruments to increase the awareness and public acceptance of renewable energy projects.Detailed information on the CrowdFundRES project is available at the project website: http://www.crowdfundres.eu