European Union islands as drivers of the energy transition thanks to NESOI

The 'New Energy Solutions Optimised for Islands' (NESOI) project, funded by the European Union, was launched on October 7th and 8th in Brussels by a team of experts in island energy transition and financial instruments.

Led by the Italian consulting, fund management, and investment company SINLOC, an interdisciplinary group of experienced partners—including analytical and financial specialists, technical, legal, and procedural experts, as well as environmental and social consultants—has joined forces with the aim of helping island communities achieve more efficient and sustainable energy solutions, in line with the European Union’s clean energy priorities.

This will be achieved through the funding, support, and monitoring of energy projects led by local authorities and island energy communities.

'We believe that the NESOI Mechanism will take a step forward in Europe’s energy transition ambitions by providing islands with training, technical support, cooperation opportunities, and strong funding prospects to concretely implement renewable energy sources (RES), modernize building and energy infrastructure, reduce energy bills, and create local jobs, enabling them to become the engines of Europe’s Energy Transition,' says Andrea Martinez (SINLOC), NESOI project coordinator.

To achieve this, NESOI will create a physical and digital platform capable of providing local authorities and communities with an initial phase of technical assistance, funding, and skills to deploy the investments planned in the islands’ energy transition plans.

The platform will also serve as a one-stop-shop for the islands, offering effective organizational, technical, and financial ideas and tools for the entire value chain of such projects.

Drawing inspiration from other island-oriented financing initiatives worldwide, NESOI will leverage the experience of the project consortium and, through its platform, aims to mobilize over €100 million in sustainable energy investment by 2023, resulting in 440 GWh/year of energy savings.

High-level representatives from the European Commission, who oversee EU energy transition projects in the context of the islands, also participated in the project’s kickoff meeting. They showed particular interest in the NESOI project, recognizing its potential to drive the decentralization of the energy system and foster community-driven, citizen-led, bottom-up initiatives.

The NESOI project is composed of a multidisciplinary consortium of ten recognized and experienced key players from nine different EU Member States, led by SINLOC - Sistema Iniziative Locali, R2M Solution, RINA Consulting, ZABALA Innovation Consulting, Hellenic Association for Energy Economics, CIRCE, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, E.ON, Deloitte, and WOLF THEISS. This project is funded by the European Commission with a €10 million grant from the Horizon 2020 Program and will run for 4 years.