Across Europe, communities are exploring new ways to make renewable energy systems fairer, more resilient and locally grounded. Within the CIRCUS project, we closely follow and learn from the real-world experiments of our partners. One recent example comes from the Netherlands, where our partner ZLTO supported a successful pilot on local energy trading at fixed prices in the municipality of Roosendaal.
From pilot to proof of concept
In this pilot, local farmers and businesses traded locally produced solar energy directly with each other, using a predefined, stable price. Instead of being fully exposed to volatile national electricity markets, participants were able to match local production with local consumption, creating both economic and social value within the region.
The results are promising:
Around 35% of the total electricity demand of the participating group was covered by locally produced renewable energy.
Approximately 42% of the locally generated electricity was consumed within the same local network.
Renewable energy producers benefited from price stability, reducing risks linked to fluctuating or even negative market prices.
Why this matters beyond Roosendaal
For CIRCUS, this initiative illustrates several themes that resonate across regions and countries:
• Energy resilience
Fixed-price local trading models can protect producers and consumers from market volatility, making renewable investments more predictable and future-proof.
• Local value creation
By keeping energy flows and revenues closer to home, communities strengthen their local economies and increase ownership over the energy transition.
• Replicability across Europe
Although this pilot is rooted in the Dutch context, the underlying principles - cooperation, local matching, transparent pricing - are highly relevant for other regions exploring community energy, energy sharing and local energy markets.
Learning within CIRCUS
Within the CIRCUS project, we collect and connect these kinds of partner experiences to build a broader understanding of what works, under which conditions, and why. The Roosendaal case offers valuable insights for policymakers, local authorities and community initiatives across North-West Europe who are considering similar approaches.
We warmly encourage readers to explore the full story as published by our partner ZLTO and as picked up by specialised energy media and to reflect on how such models could inspire local energy systems elsewhere.