Renewables overtake fossil fuels across the EU

For the first time, renewable energy produced more electricity than fossil fuels across the EU. We can also observe an increase in residential solar power plant installations. More and more homeowners are deciding to switch to solar energy, which helps them lead a more self-sustained household. It lowers their overall energy costs and is beneficial […]

Nieuwe Dokken district virtual power plant official opening

During a press meeting on June 2, the Belgian federal minister for Energy Tinne Van Der Straeten officially opened the Nieuwe Dokken district virtual power plant. Electricity consumption and storage is now managed to match local renewable energy production. At full deployment, this newly built urban district in Ghent will attain more than 400 housing […]

Electric car ownership: an affordable option for consumers

Between July 2020 and March 2021, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and nine of its members commissioned a study on the lifetime cost of passenger cars. Conducted at European level and within nine countries, it compares the costs of owning diesel and petrol hybrid, plug-in hybrid, hydrogen and battery electric vehicles over their entire lifetime […]

Shared energy in Italy: technical rules and incentives

It was the 22nd of December 2020 when the technical rules for renewable energy communities and collective self-consumption in Italy were published by GSE (Gestore dei Servizi Energetici – state-owned company which manages renewable energy incentives). Consumers and producers can now share renewable energy produced locally; the “shared” electricity (equal to the minimum, on an […]

BEUC about the energy labels

The European Consumer Organisation – BEUC – has updated its factsheet about the labelling of energy consumption in household appliances. It asks for the return to the classic scheme, where the  label rated the energy efficiency of appliances on an energy class scale ranging from A to G, with class A indicating the most efficient products. […]

Heat pump heats De Nieuwe Dokken using waste water heat

Just before the switch from 2020 to 2021 was made, DuCoop, the Energy Service Company that provides its services to De Nieuwe Dokken (Gent, Belgium) took into operation its 120kW heat pump. The device will use the excess heat from the treated wastewater of the residents to heat up the district heating network that is […]

APC Romania introduced BRIGHT to the members of BEUC

On 9 December, 2020, APC Romania has introduced the BRIGHT project to the members of the BEUC, the umbrella association of the European consumer groups. It has used the Newsletter and the Member News sections of the BEUC hub. In this way, the consumers associations from the Member States of EU, together with other affiliates, […]

Successful kick-off meeting for BRIGHT

The project BRIGHT started officially with the Online Kick-off meeting on November 12-13th, chaired by the Engineering – Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A. The meeting welcomed 16 project partners as well as representative of Innovation and networks executive agency (INEA). The aim of the Kick-off meeting was to reinforce the sense of common purposes among all partners, […]