Members of the European federation of energy communities (Rescoop.eu) elected a new board and president at their general assembly in Krakow on 22 May.
The new president is Mark Luntley, from Energy4All in the UK. A qualified accountant, he helped oversee the construction of Westmill Windfarm in 2008 and helped found the Westmill Solar Co-op in 2011. He has been of the Rescoop.eu board since 2017 and is also the chair of Westmill Windfarm Co-operative.
Also elected to the board were Ilonka Marselis from Energie Samen, Netherlands (vice-president), Hilde Smets from Ecopower, Belgium (treasurer), and Nuri Palmada from Som Energia, Spain (secretary).
“The first priority of the board will be to define the strategic objectives for the term, with the aim of finalising the plan by late autumn,” said Luntley. “I would like to provide a clear sense of direction and ensure the federation’s management team is supported. Furthermore, I want to create an environment where everyone’s voice is heard equally.”
Luntley replaces outgoing president Dirk Vansintjan, who has lead the organisation for 12 years, serving the maximum of three terms of four years.
“Today we are 20 people in the Rescoop.eu team and represent 2,500 energy communities from across Europe and their 2 million citizens,” said Vansintjan. “Over the past 12 years the watermill of Rotselaar, where I live and where it all started in 1991 for my co-operative Ecopower and by extension Rescoop.eu, has become kind of an iconic place. In the coming months, a heat network on aquathermal energy from the river Dijle will be installed there as part of the Interreg NWE Aquacom project, in which I will keep working for the next two years,” he added.
The new board 2025–2029 has two representatives each – of whom at least one should identify as a woman – from eight member organisations, :
- Ecopower (Belgium)
- Energie Samen (Netherlands)
- Energy4All (UK)
- Som Energia (Spain)
- DGRV (Germany)
- Energie Partagée (France)
- Goiener (Spain)
- ènostra (Italy)
The general assembly was part of a two-day European Energy Communities Forum, which brought together 180 passionate citizens, energy community leaders, and experts from 42 countries. The forum concluded with the adoption of a declaration which calls for: more dedicated support schemes to help energy communities drive local development; closer collaborations with municipalities and other stakeholders; enhancing decentralised energy sharing, flexibility and supply; support for energy efficiency improvements by energy communities; reinforcing inclusivity and energy poverty alleviation through energy communities; and building more coalitions and federations of energy communities.
