Hyperion Energy Community
Attica, Greece- Implementation
- Greece
In 2019, a handful of individuals in Athens, who for years have been preaching the message of energy democracy, seized the opportunity and decided to ‘walk the walk’ by founding Hyperion.
There were many motivations to create Hyperion:
- Actively participate in and accelerate the clean energy transition
- Experiment with cooperative governance
- Tackle energy poverty
- Build resilience against wildly fluctuating market energy prices resulting from reliance in expensive fossil gas and the broader (neo)liberalisation of the energy market.
Hyperion is also aiming to include about 10 energy vulnerable households in the community for free. This is really important in Greece, where estimates show that between 20-50% of households face some form of energy poverty (ranging from an inability to pay their electricity bills to a lack of adequate thermal comfort).
The cooperative is currently planning a 500kwp solar park with up to 120 members. They have already contacted hundreds of potential interested members (including NGOs, arts organizations, Municipalities and SMEs) and they are currently looking for land, either on rooftops within the city environment or in an agricultural zone to implement the agrivoltaic model, i.e.: the combination of PV installations with agricultural production, which maximises land multifunctionality and reduces land-use competition. This can be another important factor in cultivating social acceptance when implementing renewable energy projects!
