COPPER

Clean, flexible, decentralized, and digital energy systems are crucial to achieving the EU goal of climate neutrality by 2050. To meet the increasing demand for electricity, the expansion of renewable energy is progressing rapidly. However, poor management of intermittent energy is already leading to costly grid overloads, especially in countries within the North Sea Region (NSR).

The Interreg North Sea project Cities for Open and Participative Planning for Electricity Grid Resilience (COPPER) will develop and pilot state-of-the-art solutions for energy planning in decentralised energy systems in six frontrunner municipalities. Through a four year process, COPPER will:

• Deliver six first-of-a-kind pilots for local authority-led energy planning, from logistic parks to electric vehicle (EV) fleets to entire neighbourhoods.
• Explore ways that Distribution System Operators (DSOs) and local authorities can work together to build a local energy system of storage and flexibility technologies, policies, market incentives and collaborations.
• Build data models and other tools to boost local authority’s capacity to understand and steer their local energy system.

10 project partners and 3 sub-partners from 5 countries are working together to realize the urban power grids of the future. Their collaborative efforts aim to increase the use of renewable energies at the local level, enhance network flexibility, and reduce costs for developers and communities. The outcomes of the pilot projects are intended to contribute to the development of long-term locally oriented energy strategies.

As part of COPPER, Climate Alliance collaborates with the City of Bremen, City of Antwerp, City of Dordrecht, Municipality of Fredericia, Varberg Energi, E.DSO , Cleantech International, Center Denmark and 3 sub-partners within a consortium led by the City of Ghent.

Project funding period: October 2023 – September 2027
via the Interreg North Sea programs

Want to learn more? Contact Andreas Kress at a.kress(at)climatealliance.org or Susanne Brandt at s.brandt(at)klimabuendnis.org.

interregnorthsea.eu/copper

Further information

• Project poster
• COPPER on LinkedIn
• Contact the team at contact(at)coppercities.eu