Heilbronn has made the energy cooperative EnerGeno a partner for its energy and climate strategy. EnerGeno, one of the biggest energy actors in the region, has stable collaboration with municipalities to use their roofs in exchange of stable and cheap electricity.
Energy Communities
Adaptation
Energy Poverty
Green Capital
Heilbronn, European Green Capital 2027, is leading by example the transition in Germany. The Municipality approved Climate and Energy Goals, basing their achievement on an innovative partnership with local stakeholders operating in the field.
Between them, one of the most relevant is the collaboration with EnerGeno Heilbronn-Franken eG, one of the biggest energy communities in the country.
From grassroots initiative to highly professional regional energy actor
Founded in 2010 by 46 committed citizens, it has since then developed into one of the largest citizen energy cooperatives in the region of Baden-Württemberg, working in energy management, solar and wind installations, micro heat projects and side environmental activities. This professionalisation has been key to scaling citizen-led renewable energy projects while maintaining democratic ownership.
Indeed, today, the cooperative counts more than 2,400 members and manages more around EUR 30 million in equity capital. Among the members, there are SMEs and a few municipalities around Heilbronn, that decided to invest in the project after starting a collaboration for the use of their municipal roofs. The community, in its fifteen years of activities, was also quite able to go in the direction of gender equality in terms of members, and also to arrive a younger cohort, a difficult result for energy communities in German.
Thanks to yearly campaigns around the Christmas period, an important quota of members are children or young people that receive the necessary shares as a gift. This large based also allowed the community to have a comparably low price for its shares, that are 100 EUR each.
Supporting and investing in local projects
Around 15 years ago, the Municipality created a small energy community with some public and private stakeholders, that it is still operational. However, eager to collaborate more with citizens, in the past few years the Municipality decided to work along with EnerGeno, amplifying the commercial opportunity for the energy community, and lowering its energy bills.
Heilbronn’s municipal authorities have moved beyond a purely consumer role and are now actively involved in the construction of a citizen-led energy future. Initially the city rented roof space on public buildings to the energy community in exchange of cheaper electricity, and Energeno sold the surplus electricity back to the grid. Over the past decade the relationship has deepened: as the model proved successful, the city signed a formal climate and energy partnership with the EnerGeno, signing a long term contract to work as partners towards the city’s climate targets.
A structured cooperation model for municipalities
EnerGeno has since developed a structured cooperation model for municipalities. It starts by identifying and assessing rooftop or land potential for PV installations. Then, the cooperative opens a lease and sign an electricity supply agreement with the municipality. Citizen participation is ensured through cooperative shares. EnerGeno develops a full project, including planning, financing, construction, operation, insurance and monitoring. Once is done, with the Municipality and EnerGeno do joint communication and public engagement.
Today, thanks to the collaboration with the City of Heilbronn, EnerGeno has leveraged its position to break down barriers for neighbouring municipalities, which started similar collaborations. Additionally, at least four neighbouring municipalities decided to join the energy community as members, increasing transparency inside the organisation. The advantage for the municipality is that it does not bear risk investment, and the project does not require internal technical capacity.
At the same time, the lower and stable price for electricity allows the Municipality to reinvest the difference in other municipal projects, providing additional services to its citizens. At the same time, installing a power plant and using public roofs allows EnerGeno to expand, providing more benefits to its members, that are citizens as well. The scheme thus allows to create local value, reinvest in the local economy and improve the community general wellbeing.
Not only electricity: social activities are part of the core business
The energy community has delivered tangible results. By installing solar panels on public roofs and developing solar and wind parks, the cooperative provides a share of the city’s electricity demand. The project has been running for several years in solar and wind parks, with a portion of the output reserved for community use. While precise figures for carbon dioxide avoidance or energy savings are not supplied, the community’s activities are framed as a contribution to the city’s climate targets, as well to the stabilisation of energy costs and to the strengthening regional energy independence. Indeed, beyond the municipal buildings, EnerGeno provides electricity also for SMEs, social institutions, housing cooperatives and multi-apartment buildings.
Beyond the direct energy supply, the community has generated a range of social and environmental benefits. Thanks to its roots in the local environmental movement, the energy community tries also as much as it can to do extra-sectorial projects, such as tree planting, integrated solar parks in agricultural land (e.g., sheep grazing under panels) and re plantation of apple and other fruit trees. Two socio ecological year students volunteer on these re planting activities, linking education with practical action.
Leading by example, in the schools as in the country
The community also engages with schools and youth movements. During Fridays for Future (FFF) period, volunteers from EnerGeno ran classroom discussions, fostering dialogue about climate and renewable energy. The cooperative engages the local community in public information events and site visits as well, and it sponsors social and environmental initiatives.
The presence of the energy community has encouraged other initiatives. The city collaborates with many SMEs and large scale solar operators, positioning communities as key partners in building projects. The experience gained has been shared with other German energy communities, helping them to understand that municipalities can host sizable installations despite earlier doubts about professional capacity.
Concerning EnerGeno business, the cooperative is now working to further expand the realm of activities, with large-scale PVs, agri-PVs, two additional wind turbines (for 22 GWh annually) and battery storage systems, as well as grid-supporting services.
© EnerGeno
Lessons learnt
A strong democratic governance, professional in-house technical expertise and mobilisation of citizen capitals are the key of EnerGeno success.
Community ownership has always been a cornerstone for EnerGeno. While the energy community is now engaged in big solar parks, small heating projects, and other activities, its core business remains the installation of solar panels on roofs. By doing so, it empowers the community, providing them substantial savings that can be used in the local economy.
The central role of the community was then reinforced once again with the early and structured involvement of the Municipality. By providing its roofs to generate electricity for public services and the neighbourhood, the Municipality could align the community’s goals with city wide climate ambitions.
Moreover, the signature of the Partnership between the energy community and the Municipality provided an official framework, allowing the collaboration to be extended beyond the realm of installing solar roofs. For example, EnerGeno will be a partner of the Municipality for the 2027 Green Capital year.
Additionally, the integration into national energy markets via direct marketing and PPAs allowed the cooperative to expand the realm of activities, thus providing more resources to invest in the local community.
Key challenges
However, not everything is gold. For example, a still complicated national legal framework makes energy sharing complex, and possible only virtually. For this reason, EnerGeno had to create an entire system to facilitate the selling and rebuying of energy produced by the plants, encountering regulatory complexity and uncertainty.
At the moment, while the market is liberalised, some big players are still dominating the market. The federal government should change this political framework, recognising the benefits of energy communities, in terms of mobilisation of private capital and increased acceptance of renewable energy technologies.
On another level, municipalities sometimes think that energy communities cannot install their solar roofs, or bigger projects, because not professionals enough, but EnerGeno showcase how that is fundamentally not true. For this reason, the energy community is travelling around Germany motivate others to do the same, providing an example of how professional they could be.
Replicability
EnerGeno represents a new wave of citizen-led energy initiatives, for Germany and all Europe. As the Municipality of Heilbronn shows clearly, municipalities can act as catalysts, providing local demand and resources private actors could difficulty find.
As democratising electricity generation through cooperative ownership and municipal partnership can be adapted wherever there are civic willingness and suitable renewable resources, EnerGeno shows to which point people have transformative power.
When citizens see themselves as owners of the energy system, motivation rises and democratic engagement strengthens. Municipalities that harness this energy, support cooperative structures and provide clear, supportive policy environments can replicate EnerGeno and Heilbronn’s model, fostering both climate action and social cohesion.
Heilbronn, Germany
Energy Community in Focus
EnerGeno Heilbronn-Franken eG
Active since: 2010
Stage of implementation: Active Energy Community
Key Energy Figures
- Total capacity installed:
- 43 MWp of installed solar capacity (150 projects)
- Installed wind capacity for 50 GWh per year
- Ratio production/consumption: overall coverage of the demand of more than 30000 people
Type of support from the Municipality
- Facilitation: setting targets
- Support: access to public roofs/land, buying energy from the community
Covenant Figures
- Signatory to the Covenant of Mayors since: 2024
- Emission reduction ambitions:
- Climate neutrality by 2050