“Private Law in the Energy Commons” (PLEC)

The international conference with the complete title “Private Law in the Energy Commons - A Multidisciplinary Challenge” in Turin focussed on “Energy Communities”/REC and other Energy Commons from a private-law perspective.

Against this background, on 27 and 28 March 2024, the conference brought together experts from eight different countries and scientific backgrounds, from the academy and from practice. An exchange of information, the "lessons learnt", but also challenges in the context of REC were discussed intensively here.

A representative of the LEEWAY project respectively of the BEG (AP5) was also able to give a presentation at this conference and was able to present and contribute his experience from the cooperative, e.g. as an experienced project developer, as well as from the ongoing LEEWAY project.

In the preceding project with the same name “Private Law and the Energy Commons, financed over 2 year by the EU, showed the project that private law faces similar challenges as other disciplines, ranging from citizen participation and inclusivity to suitable governance structures and project finance. Further joint activities are planned for the future. The existing group is open to other experienced experts and stakeholders in the future.

The results of the conference and the slides of the presentations are planned for publication.The preferred contact for this would be Prof. Dr. Björn Hoops from the University of Groningen* (NL).

*Chair of Private Law and Sustainability, Faculty of Law, University of Groningen