Rural Energy Community Lighthouse LV

The project partners of Rural Energy Communities^LV - the Heinrich Böll Foundation Schleswig-Holstein and the Latvian Rural Forum - are continuing their collaboration. In December 2025, the project Setting up a Rural Lighthouse Energy Community in Latvia – Process Support, Mentoring for Follower Communities and Cross-border Knowledge Exchange was launched with funding from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). This new initiative builds on and expands the achievements of the earlier project Rural Energy Communities^LV – Catalysing and building capacities for renewable energy communities in rural Latvia, which was supported by the DBU from January 2024 to October 2025.

The follow up project pursues the following new goals:

• Supporting the stepwise implementation and monitoring of a lighthouse project in the village of Kalniena (i.e., practical implementation of an energy sharing community),
• Analysis of strategies for mobilising and involving vulnerable households and development of corresponding implementation proposals,
• Transfer of findings from the lighthouse project to interested communities in Latvia with the aim of initiating follow-up projects,
• Deepening the exchange of knowledge and experience between Latvian and German energy communities, policy actors, public authorities, and other stakeholders, (especially from Schleswig-Holstein),
• Intensifying the mutual learning process with the aim of also learning from the experiences of the neighbouring countries Estonia and Lithuania, especially regarding energy sharing and participation strategies for vulnerable households,
• Formulating proposals for the further development of the Latvian Rural Forum as a central point of contact for rural energy communities and for the establishment of suitable network structures in Latvia,
• Contributing to the optimisation of the regulatory framework for energy communities and energy sharing by incorporating findings from the lighthouse project into relevant policy-making processes in Latvia and Germany/Schleswig-Holstein.

On 31 October 2025, the project Rural Energy CommunitiesLV – Catalysing and building capacities for renewable energy communities in rural Latvia concluded. Its main objective was to enhance the development of Renewable Energy Communities (RECs), especially in rural areas of Latvia. It also intended to facilitate a dialogue, knowledge transfer and cooperation between policy makers, public authorities, community energy experts and other relevant stakeholders from Germany, particularly Schleswig-Holstein and Latvia. The project was implemented with the support of the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU) and has made a significant contribution to the development of knowledge, experience and practical solutions in rural areas of Latvia. 

The project activities culminated in the foundation of the country’s first rural energy community in the village of Kalniena (municipality of Gulbene). Despite challenging regulatory and financial conditions, the initiative successfully registered as an energy community in October 2025, marking a major milestone for Latvia’s energy transition. The residents of Kalniena have jointly embarked on the path to energy independence by using local resources and the power of community cooperation. This showcase can serve as an inspiring example for other communities in Latvia.

At the end of the project, the Latvian partners updated the Latvian policy factsheet. In addition, the German and Latvian partners prepared a comprehensive synopsis of energy sharing rules in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) and Latvia, reflecting the latest legislative developments in both countries.

The website of the Latvian project partner Latvian Rural Forum provides more information about the project activities implemented in Latvia (only in Latvian).
The Rural Energy CommunitiesLV project demonstrated that community-driven energy sharing is possible, but requires targeted support, enabling policies, and continued capacity building—elements that will be further advanced in a follow-up project funded by the DBU which officially started on 17 December 2025.

This compilation was prepared in the context of the project Rural Energy CommunitiesLV -Catalysing and building capacities for renewable energy communities in rural Latvia. It provides a brief overview on selected rural energy communities in Schleswig-Holstein that can provide orientation for similar initiatives in Latvia.

Here you can access the compilation.

As part of the Rural Energy Communities^LV project funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation, the virtual policy dialogue Enhancing Energy Communities in Rural Regions - Knowledge Exchange Between Schleswig-Holstein and Latvia took place on 26 June 2024. The focus of the event was on the energy policy framework in Germany/Schleswig-Holstein and Latvia, the implementation of the relevant European regulations and their provisions for energy communities, the citizens' energy fund in Schleswig-Holstein, as well as issues of digitalization in the energy sector. The agenda and a summary of the event with the key findings can be found in the files below. There is also a project factsheet with more information about Rural Energy Communities^LV. Also, you can find the presentations, that were presented.

Here you can access the agenda.

Here you will find a summary.

Here you will find the presentations.

As part of the Rural Energy Communities^LV project, the second Virtual Policy Dialogue took place on Wednesday, 2 April 2025 from 10:00-13:00 (Central European Summer Time). The online event was titled ‘Energy Sharing for Rural Energy Communities - Knowledge Exchange Between Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) and Latvia’. The virtual policy dialogue addressed policy makers, public authorities, associations, citizen and community energy initiatives, as well as other interested market actors and stakeholders. The regional focus was on Germany - particularly Schleswig-Holstein - and Latvia. 45 participants joined the Policy Dialogue.

The following questions were discussed at the event: What opportunities and challenges does energy sharing bring for Germany (especially Schleswig-Holstein) and Latvia? How does the regulatory framework for energy sharing look like in both countries? What can players in politics and administration, energy communities and other market players and stakeholders in both countries learn from each other and from the experiences of other European countries in the field of energy sharing?

Here you can access the agenda.

Here you will find a summary.

Here you can find the presentations.

From October 8–11, 2024, Rural Energy CommunitiesLV hosted a visit from Latvian experts in Schleswig-Holstein, aiming for an exchange of information and experiences on citizen energy. The nine-member Latvian delegation included representatives from the Ministry of Climate and Energy, various government agencies, the Regulatory Commission, energy agencies, and SMEs. The visit was coordinated by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Schleswig-Holstein in close collaboration with its partner, the Latvian Rural Forum.

A follow-up virtual policy dialogue on energy sharing is planned for spring 2025, and a return visit of German experts to Latvia is scheduled for early summer 2025.

Here you access the summary.

Here you can find the presentations.

As part of the Rural Energy CommunitiesLV project, a group of three German community energy experts visited Latvia from 10 to 13 June 2025 to engage in a dialogue with local stakeholders in two pilot communities. The group consisted of Thomas Leidreiter (founder and board member of the energy cooperative BürgerEnergie Nord eG), Christian Andresen (Managing Director of Solar-Energie Andresen GmbH and Chairman of the Renewable Energy Association of Schleswig-Holstein) and Dr Gilbert Sieckmann-Joucken (City Councillor, Vice-President of the Segeberg rural district, Consultant). The group was accompanied by Michael Krug (Heinrich Böll Foundation Schleswig-Holstein) and hosted by Ilvija Ašmane (Latvian Rural Forum). The three participating experts were already actively involved in the study visit of Latvian policy makers and experts in Schleswig-Holstein, which took place in October 2024. The aim of the expert visit in June 2024 was to further deepen the exchange of knowledge, experience and good practice between Schleswig-Holstein and Latvia and where possible and feasible to provide advice for the emerging initiatives in Latvia. The visit included meetings and discussions with local actors from the citizen energy initiatives in Vārme and Lapmežciems/Ragaciems, rural communities in the western part of Latvia. These actors are planning to establish energy communities with the aim of sharing electricity. The German experts entered a dialogue with these initiatives, discussed opportunities and challenges, and provided suggestions for practical implementation. Topics discussed were local acceptance of wind and solar farms and measures to promote local community acceptance, procedural and financial participation of citizens, perspectives and steps for establishing energy communities (e.g. cooperative), strategies for mobilising citizens, the shared use of energy, financing models and opportunities for using plug-in PV systems in Latvia. One of the key conclusions was that establishing an energy sharing community will be hardly attractive under the given framework conditions. On 12 June 2025, the group actively took part in the 7th Latvian Rural Communities Parliament in Mālpils, a bi-annual event organised by LRF with around 300 participants from rural regions of Latvia. The German experts provided inputs for two workshops on energy communities on their own experiences and good practices in the field of community energy.