WEnCoop Energy Cooperative

WEnCoop is an all-women energy cooperative created by women from diverse backgrounds and cultures, from crafts to services, commerce and hotels. It is an initiative of the Greek Association of Women Entrepreneurs, which aims to develop and promote women’s entrepreneurship. Through WEnCoop, its members are able to operate in the energy sector and use clean energy sources. Its statutes were developed in June 2021 and were signed by 60 founding female members. The cooperative works on a wide range of collective energy actions that involve female businesses’ participation in the energy system.

The goals of the WEnCoop energy cooperative are the following:

• Developing women entrepreneurship and promoting energy innovation
• Tackling energy poverty
• Producing, storing, consuming, distributing and supplying clean energy
• Improving energy efficiency at a local and regional level

Moreover, they hope to reduce the cost of their businesses thanks to the energy produced by the cooperative.

WEnCoop empowers its members and its beneficiaries not only to generate and export their own energy but also to reinvest part of the profits into the community. This method promotes self-sufficiency and a sense of community engagement in a “common good” through the use of new technologies. It also stimulates leadership and highlights the involvement of more women in local and regional decision-making.

WEnCoop operates a 1MW solar power plant in Kassandreia, Halkidiki. In the future, they hope to develop three more photovoltaic parks (1MW each), use the produced energy for electric mobility, and provide free quantities to vulnerable groups, mainly single-parent families of women, etc.