Develop sustainable and multimodal mobility
Coordinators Interreg France-Switzerland
- All sectors
Ensuring positive socio-economic impact: PEDs in local economies and energy markets
- All sectors
- EU Open Calls
- Coordinators: Driving Urban Transition – Positive Energy Districts
- Allocated budget: Most projects are expected to have a total budget request of around €1–2 million.
- End of applications: 23 April 2026
- Project duration: 36 months
- Project submitted on: Open calls
Objective
Assess and demonstrate the transformative impact of PEDs on local energy markets, affordability, grid resilience, and socio-economic development through decentralised renewables, market integration, and smart technologies.
Priorities
➡️ Demonstrate PEDs’ impact on local energy markets through decentralised renewable generation, energy efficiency, and market-level regulatory innovation to enhance energy affordability, resilience, and geopolitical security.
➡️ Assess socio-economic benefits of PEDs including energy trading via communities, local job creation, behavioural change, and improved economic efficiency in decentralised, community-driven energy systems.
➡️ Advance smart, resilient energy systems by integrating PEDs with DSOs, storage, IoT, and demand-response technologies, supported by adaptive policy frameworks and incentive structures for market stability and flexibility.
Eligibility
Legal entities such as (but not limited to):
- research organisations (higher education institutions including universities, university colleges; research institutes or other entities with research undertakings),
- companies and commercial organisations,
- urban government authorities (such as local and regional government institutions, municipalities and municipal organisations, city authorities, urban public administrations, infrastructure and service providers),
- consumers and civil society representatives (e.g. local and community organisations, non-governmental organisations, not-for-profit organisations, advocacy and activist groups, citizens’ representatives, neighbourhood initiatives, social innovators, social entrepreneurs, etc.).
- From the culture and creative sectors (e.g. artists and designers).
Each proposal must be submitted by a consortium consisting of at least three eligible Applicants from at least three different participating countries (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden (funding agencies Formas and SWEA have confirmed their participation and will publish their National Annexes at a later date), Switzerland, Tunisia More confirmed countries will be added continuously up until the call opens on 1 September.)
At least two of the eligible Applicants must be from different EU Member States (MS) or Associated Country (AC).
Eligible activities
➡️ Evidence on how optimised energy efficiency, decentralised renewable energy production and flexibility services within PEDs impact local energy markets, energy pricing, affordability, and energy security, as well as recommendations for optimising these effects.
➡️ Innovative approaches for balancing local and regional energy markets with national and transnational energy frameworks, including regulatory and incentive structures to ensure effective market operation.
➡️ Analysis of the socio-economic effects of PEDs on local communities, including the creation of local jobs, economic opportunities, and behavioural shifts in social interactions within the community.
➡️ Assessment of PEDs as energy trading platforms and energy communities, with clear evidence of their impact on local energy distribution, economic efficiency, climate neutrality and community engagement.
➡️ Insights into the integration of smart technologies, IoT, and demand-response mechanisms within PEDs, demonstrating how these technologies optimise energy consumption, improve grid stability, and market flexibility, reduce emissions and air pollution and contribute to climate change mitigation.
➡️ Understanding of the role PEDs play in enhancing grid resilience, including how local energy systems can be integrated into national and transnational grids, and the future role of DSOs in this transition.
➡️ Evaluation of enhanced energy storage solutions within PEDs and their potential to stabilise energy markets, facilitating the transition towards decentralised energy models.
